A New Emperor
by the7joker7
Summary: A new evil has shown up in the digital world, who swears to finish what Ken started in a way far more spectacular than Ken could ever imagine. He is indeed powerful, and to combat him, Ken will have to bring back some old talents...
1. Eclipse

A New Emperor

Summary: A new evil has shown up in the digital world, who swears to finish what Ken started in a way far more spectacular than Ken could ever imagine. He is indeed powerful, and to combat him, Ken will have to bring back some old talents...

Alright, so, I'm gonna try a fic that's a bit more mainstream and in the style of the adventures they had in the actual show. This is a fairly original idea, though I may borrow concepts from popular culture here and there.

This takes place...after the defeat of Malomyotismon, minus the stuff about there being thousands of digidestined, and then at the end everyone becomes a digidestined, because I hate that. Just sticking with the traditional twelve digidestined plus a few added of my own creation.

Rated K+ for some violence, maybe the occasional dirty word. I'd say it's more or less on par with what was shown in the show during the end of Adventure 02, so in that context I think that's a fair rating.

Also, please review if you read, if I get the sense that people are reading and enjoying my fic I'm more likely to work quicker to write it.

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Chapter One: Eclipse

"No. No, you need to steal some nuts to breed Chocobos. Go to...go back to bone village, then head south and cop some nuts off the monsters on the island right there. You need nuts to breed a golden chocobo." TK reinterated.

"Don't tell me what to do." Davis said dismissively. "Maybe I'll flatten that island with Bahamut, ever think of that?"

"It doesn't work like-...fine, you know what? Whatever, it's your loss. You know I'm right, you just don't want to admit it." TK put his right hand on his forehead. "As soon as I leave, you'll head right to those islands."

"Will not!"

"Okay, okay, I don't care." TK sighed. "Do whatever you want." He leaned back on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. "Lemme know when you're willing to take some advice."

Davis was lying prone on the floor, controller in hand, looking up at the television screen. "Yeah, yeah, you just watch."

"You mean like, watch you fail? I do that too much as it is."

"Can you just-"

And then, a shrill ring came from TK's jacket, askew on the bed. "Mine." He said casually, reaching up for it. He fumbled inside the pockets for a minute. "C'mon, c'mon..." and then, he had it. He pulled it and and placed the earpiece up to his ear as he pressed a green button on the upper left of the face. "Yes?"

"Hey, it's Izzy. We've got a new development."

"No Kari, I told you, the tongue thing was an accident. I don't care if you liked it, I'm not doing it anymore." TK replied, watching Davis freeze up.

A pause from the other side of the connection. Then, a sigh. "Will you stop messing with Davis? If he has a coronary we'll be down one digidestined."

The magic word snapped TK back into serious mode. He knew Izzy wouldn't have mentioned 'digidestined' if it wasn't relevant to what he had to say. "What is it, Izzy?" He glanced back down at Davis, who was rolling over to face him. He put his fingers to his lips and lightly tapped the face again, putting it on speaker mode.

"Well, don't get too excited, but...you remember that old western style town? The ghost town?"

"Sure, what about it?"

"Well, I've just received word that a...foreign object has appeared in the town center."

"You mean like a clean drinking glass?" Davis asked. TK couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"This might be serious, Davis. It's been described as a crystal about six inches in length. It's just...appeared in the middle of the town."

"And this might be serious...how?" Davis couldn't resist asking, feeling Izzy was being slightly paranoid.

"Well...they're unable to get near it. They've claimed that there's...a great energy coming from it and it prevents them from getting too close."

"Count me in." TK replied. "I don't like the sounds of this, it's our duty to check it out." He briskly hung up, placed the phone back in his jacket, and jumped up as he put it back on. "You know, it occurs to me that a good 'leader' should be there too."

"I know, I know. I'm going. But why'd he call you before me?" He suddenly demanding, realizing the implications of such an action.

"He was going alphabetically." TK said casually as he booted up Davis's computer.

"Oh...right."

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"Alright, this is everyone I could get to come." Izzy said as he counted off Tai, Sora, Davis, Ken, TK, Kari, and himself.

"Some digidestined group we are." Tai grumbled, looking down at the sand.

"Calm down, Tai. This is probably nothing, we can't expect everyone to show up over a strange crystal."

"I guess. This isn't gonna take long, it wouldn't _kill_ Matt to put his guitar down for two seconds and-"

"Hostile much?" Ken asked, looking at Tai warily.

"Sorry! Sorry, it's nothing."

He looked to his right and saw Sora and Kari talking in private. "Hey, hey! Let's see some distance over there!" He walked up to the pair, pushing them apart. "Break it up, break it up! No secretive discussions."

Suddenly, Davis's face went blank. "Hey...wait! If he was going alphabetically, I would have gone before you! D comes before T!"

TK turned to Davis. "You think? Perceptive, very perceptive."

Davis just gave a strangled growl before turning back to face Izzy.

"If everybody could please leave their personal lives here, we can get going now!" Izzy said, a slight touch of annoyance in his voice. "I told our partners to wait for us by the crystal."

The group began to stroll towards the town just a short distance from where they had landed. It was a barren desert as advertised, sandy with hills and valleys, occasional tumbleweeds, cacti, and wind blasts. And what was worse, extremely hot.

"Jeez, you'd think Oikawa could have cleaned up a bit around here when he-"

Sora gave a light gasp, and Tai grabbed Davis by the back of his shirt.

"Go on. Finish it." He said flatly.

"Ermm...when he...you know-"

"Come on, guys. What's the deal? Nobody tries to destroy the world for two months and we all turn into this? We're a team, we need to start acting like it." Izzy said to the pair. "That goes for everyone."

"You're right." Sora finally said after a short moment of silence. "C'mon guys, this might be serious. What if something happens because we were too busy bickering?"

A newfound silence struck the group at this thought, and they continued the march on.

They went over a small hill in the sand, and present before them just over it was the ghost town.

Except it was hardly a ghost town anymore. The town was alive and jumping with dozens of digimon of all shapes and sizes going about their business. And that was just what they could immediately see, there could easily have been hundreds more inside the facilities themselves. The saloon's doors almost never stopped swinging as digimon walked in and out. Across from that, a goods store was filled with activity. Just beside it, what appeared to be a hotel had constant movement in and out of it's doors.

"Nice to see it made a comeback." Tai stated as they walked into the town itself. "Sure is alive alright."

"This kind of thing is exactly what we fought for so many times." Sora said slowly. "It's beautiful."

"Yes indeed. Now where's that sheriff guy...Starmon I think it was." Davis said, looking about.

"Nevermind that. There it is!" Kari stated, pointing into the middle of the town. Sure enough, a small object reflecting the sunlight was set right in the middle of a four way intersection. Anybody passing through the intersection seemed to avoid it, as if surrounded by an imaginary wall ten feet in diameter. Otherwise, they ignored it, not overly concerned with what it could do or what it might mean. Their partners were gathered around the object, waiting.

They ran through the crowd, pushing through unconcerned digimon, going rather unrecognized inspite of the fact that they were human.

"Geez, for an old western style town it sure feels like a concrete jungle." Ken noted. "We could be walking around with chainsaws and nobody would care. It's like New York City."

"You're not kidding." Davis added. "Lets get this over with, I don't like this place."

"It's a walking contradiction." Izzy mused. "Funny."

"Hey guys." Patamon said as the group walked into the circle around the crystal. "Check this out."

The group looked it over. It was a crystal about six inches long, an octagonal tube that tapered at both ends into dull points. It was standing on end, seemingly balancing on one of it's tips. It was very shiny and clean, you could see right through it to the other side. It could have easily passed for a wind chime piece.

"Okay, so...what're we looking at?" TK inquired. "It's...a crystal. Can I take it home and convert it into a decoration? My mom's birthday is coming up."

"Sure, if you can grab it." Gatomon responded. "Go ahead, try it."

TK looked around. "Alright then." He rolled up his sleeves. "Nothing to it." He began walking up towards it, aware of all the eyes beating down on him.

And then, he suddenly felt a strange weight dragging him down. As if gravity had suddenly tripled, trying to pull him down to earth. He tried to ignore it and continue pushing towards it, but with every step it got worse. He felt as if something was coming down from the skies, pressuring him with several tons of weight. His limbs started to ache, and breathing was becoming a labor. He was within three feet of it, then it was too much. He fell to his knees, pushing hard on the ground, afraid he'd be crushed into nothing if he let up.

He looked up with great effort. Everything was blurred and hazy. It looked as if massive amounts of steam were emitting from the sand and rising up into the air. Foolishly, he tried to crawl forward, not yet giving up on getting to the crystal.

Every time he pushed himself an inch closer to it, the pressure got worse and worse. Yet, he couldn't stop. He could not let himself give up. He had to have that crystal..._had to..._

He was within a foot now, and felt his eyeballs might very well pop, and could care less. He reached out, preparing to lunge the final distance. He propped his legs up to pounce, and then leaped forward.

His hand came down on top of the crystal, but could go no further than about an inch from it. No matter how he push, his hand would not go through the invisible barrier that just surrounded.

The pressure was unbearable. He thought he may very well get crushed into nothing. But he wouldn't leave without that crystal.

He had to have it...had to...

And then, he felt someone grab him by the feet and pull him back. He tried to claw at the crystal one last time, but to no avail. There was nothing to grab onto except desert sand, and after a moment the pressure was gone. He was now several feet from the crystal, feeling perfectly fine.

He turned over and saw Tai at his feet, having been the dragger. "You alright, TK? What was that?"

He shook his head violently, then started to push himself up. He saw the entire group crowded around him. "I don't know. It was...I was being crushed by something. But I couldn't leave."

"How?" Izzy inquired.

TK paused, then turned around to look back at the crystal. "I'm not sure, I just...I thought I couldn't leave until I had it. I thought..."

"What?" Kari asked, looking just a little worried.

"...I thought that I'd be willing to risk my life for it." TK finished.

"Well that's a little ridiculous." Davis started. "I mean, you can always buy your mom a nice box of chocolate, it's only like-"

"No. Davis, that's no decoration." TK turned to Davis, looking just a little off steady and worried. His eyes were wide and sweat pasted his face. "I've never felt like that before, I'm telling you." He glanced back at the crystal, then back at Davis. "I thought the pressure might have killed me, but I-I didn't care!"

Ken looked down at it. "So it's certainly something. But you couldn't get it?"

"No, there was this...this barrier. An invisible one, I couldn't touch it."

The entire group looked back at the strange object.

"Now what?" Kari asked. "There has to be a reason why it's so secure."

And then, quite suddenly, a collective gasp came from the crowd behind him. They turned around, now noticing everyone had stopped moving and was looking up at the sun.

They saw a tiny part of the left side of the sun covered by a black object. Slowly, almost too slowly to see at normal speed, it was spreading over the entire sun. An eclipse.

"Wow, they have eclipses in the digital world too." Izzy noted, looking up at it cautiously. "Interesting."

"Nice." Davis commented. "It's moving fast."

"You're not kidding." Tai commented. They could actually see it move across the sun, ever so slowly, of course impossible with any earth eclipse.

Izzy rubbed his chin, looking up at it. "Yeah, looks like we might have a total eclipse in ten minutes."

"Guys?" Kari's voice suddenly spoke up. The group turned around to look back at the crystal, which Kari was already observing. It had turned red. A light red, but a red nonetheless.

"Maybe it's like one of those mood rings." Davis said. "You think maybe it likes the sun?"

"In case you guys didn't notice, this might be serious!" Tai said, glaring down at the crystal. "Red's a bad color, isn't it?"

"I guess."

And then, a small burst of smoke came up from the crystal. It floated in the air just above the crystal for a moment, then formed a sentence in the middle of the air.

_When the sun is eclipsed by the moon._

After a short second of displaying this, it formed the shapeless cloud once again, then formed a series of symbols and numbers.

_6:37_

Then the seven formed into a six...then a five...then the smoke formation blew away.

"Hey! What was that?" Davis asked, yelling in the general direction of where the smoke went. 

"We've got six and a half minutes." Izzy said, looking at his watch. "Something's gonna happen when that eclipse comes total." He shrugged his shoulders so his backpack fell off, then grabbed it and reached into it for his laptop. "Come on people, we don't know what it might do!"

"Maybe that's good motivation for us to leave." TK said. "I think it's capable of quite a bit from my experience with it."

"Should we evacuate the town?" Davis asked, looking at the hundreds of digimon peering up at the sun.

"No time, we're better off trying to stop whatever it is." Tai answered, though he made no movement towards that objective as he had no idea on how to accomplish it.

"C'mon, c'mon..." Izzy muttered, trying to find something that could help.

"Um...guys?" Sora finally spoke up. The group froze and looked at her. She was looking off in the distance, beyond the town, into the barren desert itself.

The group looked at where she was looking, stunned for a moment by what they saw. Sitting cross legged on a sandhill was a boy, perhaps a teenager like them, He wore a black coat with grey pants, and was sitting there, chin in his hands, watching the town with almost wide-eyed interest.

"What?" Kari finally said. "Who's he?"

"I dunno." Tai said quietly. "But we don't have alot of time, so we gotta get moving."

"Doing what?" Davis interjected. "We've got no idea what to do!"

"Maybe he knows something." Izzy suggested. "Let's go see him."

"We don't really have a choice." Sora conceded. "Be careful though."

The group began a sprint down the main street of the town, towards the human figure on the hill. The streets were now full, as everyone had come out to watch the developing eclipse. They jumped over, past, and through any digimon that got in their way, occasionally tripping. Davis had the bad luck of tripping over a Mamemon and spraining his ankle. TK and Ken had to assist him the rest of the way.

Finally, the group stood at the foot of the small hill, right before the child. They were all panting heavily, looking up at the boy, who had yet to acknowledge them. Izzy told the digimon to back off and wait in case something happened. Finally, Davis spoke up.

"Hey, kid! You just blew my soccer game on saturday, so you better start talking, and you better have something good to say!" He exploded, clearly blaming the boy for his injury.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, a bit more friendly, though still cautious.

"A boy who loves a good eclipse." He said simply, pushing himself up into a standing position. "There's nothing like a total one. Beautiful. The very definition of beautiful."

"Hey, astroboy! We don't care about the eclipse!" Davis said, limping forward from Ken's and TK's grips. "We care about that!" He pointed emphatically down to the crystal in the middle of the town. Though it was just a large dot in the distance from here, they could see it had become an intense red now.

"Oh! So I see." He said, clapping his hands together in front of his face. "I wish I could help, but I'm afraid not even Azulongmon can disturb it now. Fret not, the barrier will be gone as soon as the total eclipse hits."

"Who are you?" TK finally asked again.

"Me? Who wants to know?" He responded, his language quick and light.

"How'd you get here?" Davis said, calming slightly now that the boy was talking. "You aren't exactly in Kansas anymore, in case you didn't know."

"I know where I am, boy." The child said. "Don't worry about me, I'm well aware."

"Okay, then how'd you get into the digital world?" Izzy asked, trying to remain calm inspite of the circumstances. "And how do you know about that crystal?"

He looked down at the sand, slowly reaching into his pocket. "What is this, an interrogation? I'm not that different from any of you, you know."

"How?" Kari asked, watching his hand go into the pocket of his black coat.

"Like this." He said quietly, pulling out his hand. The digidestined team pulled back, fearing the worst, but his hand held something quite harmless, though shocking. A D-3 was the object now resting in his hand, but unlike all the others, this one was colorless, colored the same as the original digivices.

"Whoa!" Came the general outcry from the group as they looked at it.

"So don't think yourselves to be that special. You have nothing I don't in this world."

"What are you talking about?" Ken asked.

"I mean about you running up here and condescendingly questioning me, like you have the right to be here and I don't. As you can see, the greater powers at work have granted me all they have granted you."

"Okay, okay. Sorry, we couldn't have possibly known, calm down." Izzy peered down at the D3 again. "So...you would be a digidestined then? Where have you been?"

"...around." He said slowly. He began to look in all direction, slowly rotating around. "Wish I had been here though. Such a wonderful place. The place where dreams come true and fantasies become reality." He threw his arms up into the air. "What a place."

"Yes, yes, now...what's your name?"

"What's in a name?" He shot back quickly.

"Okay, fine, forget the name..." Izzy looked down at the town center. "We've got like two minutes, so-"

But the child had stepped up to Ken and was looking him over carefully. "So this is the great Ken?" He said, almost mockingly, but not enough to trigger a defensive response.

"Yes." Ken said flatly, shying away slightly.

"Wonderful." He looked Ken over again.

"What do you think you're doing?" He finally asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all, just..." he paused for a moment. "Why'd you stop?"

"Stop...what?"

"You know...the whole cape, glasses and whip thing, with the flying base and the flying black bands and towers...the whole gig...why'd you stop?"

Ken glanced around uncomfortably. "Why'd I stop? It was...wrong. I was being...you know, evil, selfish, greedy, the whole nine yards, what kind of a question is that?"

"So...it just suddenly occured to you that you were being evil? It just...suddenly hit you?"

"No...but...well, It was like..." he looked up at the sky, thinking. "What's it to you anyway?"

"Did you stop because you believed yourself...beaten?"

Ken snapped his head back down at the boy. "Of course not! That had nothing to do with it!"

"No shame in it, Ken. If you can't lick em, join em, makes perfect sense to me."

"Hey, kid, we've got like a minute before the eclipse goes in full, so if you've got something to say-" Izzy began.

"I have nothing to say to you." He responded icily. "I'm afraid the onus is on you to come up with something." He turned back to Ken. "But...I wonder..."

"Wonder what?" Ken asked, liking this boy less and less by the second.

"Were you truly beaten? Ken, be honest now...had you been beaten? What did you believe?"

"I'm really not comfortable talking abo-"

"Were you?" He said again, no emotion in his voice.

Ken blinked twice. "If you must know..." he glanced at Davis. "Yes."

"So I see." Slowly, the boy nodded. "Chimeramon was the peak of your reign, so it happens?"

"Maybe, what's this have to do with anything?!" Ken growled, fed up with this inquisitive boy.

"Everything."

"We've got about fifteen seconds." Izzy said warily, knowing all that was to be done now was to watch and hope.

"You were good, Ken. You were very good. Just not good enough." He continued.

"What are you trying to say?" Ken glanced behind him at the town, then back to the child.

"Watch, Ken, and see what you might have become, because if you think they had defeated you that day, you are sorely mistaken."

"What-"

But the boy simply pointed up into the sky behind Ken. Ken pivoted around just in time to see the final bit of the moon cover the sun. It was dark, if only for a few seconds.

Or it would have been. Suddenly, the entire town was engulfed in a flash of brilliant light, more than canceling out the effects of the darkness of the eclipse. The light covered the entire town, though it did not extend so much as an inch past the town borders.

Two seconds later, the flash died as soon as it had come to life. Slowly, the sun began to reappear from the left side, shining light back on the digital world.

Only it had nothing to shine on but sand. There was, quite literally, nothing left of the town. It was as if it had never been there. Not a single splinter of wood or drop of beverage could be seen. A massive crater was all that remained.

In a matter of two seconds, it had not just been destroyed, but obliterated from existence. The group stared in utter disbelief at the unbelievable sight for some time.

"Destruction can be beautiful, says I." The child finally spoke up, snapping everyone back to full conscious. They turned to look at the boy. "Shame so few live to tell such tales of beauty."

"What...what..." Tai tried to say, but wasn't quite sure where to begin.

"Oh no you don't." The boy said, watching a long stream of data emerge from the crater and begin to fly into the sky. Suddenly, the stream changed direction, heading straight for him.

The digidestined watched as the stream entered his body through his left arm. He shook the arm twice, and then, three crystals, like the one that had seemingly perpetrated this destruction, appeared in his hand.

"Give up one, earn three...that's quite the return on an investment."

"Okay, that's it! Who are you, and what are you doing?!" Ken exploded, the revival of his unfortunate memories enraging him along with the destruction of hundreds of innocents.

"Touch a nerve, perhaps? Bring back fond memories of...what was it called...'The Digimon Emperor'? Ain't that just a shame?"

Davis stepped forward, grabbing the child by the collar. "Okay! Not cool anymore! What was-"

And then, quite suddenly, he was gone. Disappeared, almost as the town had.

"That, my friends, was instant respect from my peers in physical form. A moment ago, I was nobody, but now, I am somebody. Now run on home, before I decide I don't have any qualms about fighting unfairly." Came his voice from behind Davis.

After a moment's pause, Davis turned around and swung wildly, finding only air. "Dammit!"

"...Davis...we should go." Tai said slowly. "We need to get everyone..." His voice shook slightly.

"You alright?" Kari asked.

"Yeah, it's just..." he looked down at the ground. "I've never seen anything like that before. It was just, all gone in an instant...not even destroyed, just...gone."

"I'm not ready to leave until I get that kid and give him what he deserves!" Davis insisted. "Who's with me?" 

"We can give him what he deserves tomorrow." Izzy said. "If he's capable of that kind of destruction, we're gonna need everyone."

Davis gave a sigh. "Alright. But we can't allow this to happen any more, it's just too much."

Tai looked at the digimon, who were still starring at what had been, just a minute ago, a proud and upbeat town. "You guys should hide...we'll be back tomorrow...don't worry, we'll do something."

"All that life...all those digimon...gone." Wormmon said slowly. "How could..."

"I've never seen anything like it." Tentomon said sadly. "This is...I don't even know." Slowly, the group began to walk away, clearly emotionally effected by what they had seen.

Still slightly shellshocked, the group trotted off, unsure of what to really think.


	2. Outmanned and Outgunned

Chapter 2: Outmanned and outgunned

For perhaps the first time in recorded history, the entire group of twelve digidestined were gathered together in one group, and yet none of them had anything to say. This inspite of the fact that they had gathered together specifically for the purpose of talking. Some of them hadn't even been there. They had only heard of the destruction. Just hearing about what had happened was enough for them to be instantly drained of all brilliant ideas.

So you can imagine that those who had actually seen it were even more mentally depressed. An entire village and hundreds of digimon, gone in a flash. They had never seen anything like it, and even though it had been twelve hours since the occurance, nobody had been snapped back into their senses yet. Even now, gathered in Izzy's room, possibly the fate of the world at stake, they had nothing.

"Anything?" Izzy finally said, sitting on the chair backwards, his chest leaning against the back. "Look, I know we're all...devastated by last night, but it's not gonna get better if we all just sit around doing nothing."

"Hey, I gave my suggestion, don't look at me." Davis said from the floor, lying prone.

"Well excuse us if 'go to the digital world and beat that kid down' doesn't flow with us." Yolei responded, sitting on the bed.

"It beats out anything anyone else suggested." Davis responded.

"By default." Matt added, leaning against the closet door.

"Okay, okay. What do we know?" Izzy said quickly, turning to the computer. "This...individual...let's call him emperor for the lack of a better-"

"No." Ken cut him off.

The room turned to Ken, who turned red from the corner he was sitting in. He glanced around at everyone.

"Sorry, what?" Kari asked, next to Yolei on the bed.

"Um-nothing. Nothing." He looked down at the ground. He waved his hand to Izzy. "Go on, go on." He said quietly.

"No Ken. We're a team, if you've got a problem, make it known." Cody added from the floor close to the door.

"Alright, when...when I have a problem I'll be sure to make it known, but I don't have one now, so go ahead." Ken reinterated.

Izzy took back up the burden of discussion after a short pause. "Alright, this...emperor...is a digidestined like us." He began to type rapidly, almost as fast as one could normally talk. "Or so it seems. He's got a colorless digivice. He's around...thirteen, fourteen, seems well-spoken, and idolizes what Ken once was. He used a...strange crystal that emitted great power to destroy the ex-ghost town, protecting it with...something that made it impossible for us to touch it."

"C'mon Izzy. You were there. Destroyed isn't the right word and you know it." Tai interjected, standing next to him by the computer desk.

"Alright, alright...vaporized? Liquidated? Obliterated? Why does it matter?"

"Destroyed is one thing. And that wasn't destroyed. I'm just tryin' to be accurate."

Izzy thought for a second. "Let's go with...obliterated then."

"Did anyone else notice what happened after?" Ken asked.

He was met with a chorus of shaken heads. "Little distracted." Kari said.

"Yeah, well...it was odd. You know how, when a digimon dies, it's data gets...reconfigured back to primary village?"

"Sure." Tai said. "Of course."

"Well...I'm not sure, but I think...this 'emperor'...disrupted that."

The group collectively looked at Ken intently. "Go on." Mimi encouraged.

"I saw the cloud of...I guess it would be data...heading into the skies or something. But the...emperor...absorbed it into his body. I-I think he converted it into more of those crystal things."

Someone gasped. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Yes, it'd make sense. I think there were three."

A long pause followed as everyone considered the grave implications of this.

"Okay...so, he took the data of the digimon he murdered...and converted it into two-"

"Three." Ken correctly solemnly.

"...three crystals." Izzy swallowed hard.

"Great!" Davis groaned. "I wish we knew last night, he could have destroyed three other places while we were asleep!"

"Trying to sleep." Sora corrected. "For me anyway."

"And then, he disappeared when Davis tried to hit him. He said...something about leaving without physically being there." Izzy finished. "That's about it." He sighed. "I got nothing."

"Well, it's not gonna get any easier." Davis commented. "I mean, the longer we let him do what we wants, the more of those crystals he's gonna get."

"Things could get nasty fast. Whatever he kills he absorbs, which he in turn uses to kill more." Tai said.

"Seems that way." Izzy agreed. "Wish we knew a bit more..."

"Well, we don't!" Davis interjected, jumping up from his sitting position. "And we're not gonna find out any more by sitting around here! We don't have any choice but to go and figure things out first hand!"

Matt gave a slightly slanted smile. "Just like old times then?"

"Unfortunately, yes." TK concurred. He couldn't resist a slight smile himself regardless. "Settled, then?"

"Alright. We go in and look around, see what he's packing and how we match up. If things get hairy, we come right back, we just want to get a feel for what we need to do." Izzy said slowly. "Let's do this!"

Everyone got up and gathered around the computer, pulling out their digivices or D3s. "Just like old times." Tai repeatedly quietly.

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They came out just outside a large forest. Almost as one, they pressed a button on their digivices, alerting their partners to their presence and location. Everyone was constantly throwing their heads about, keeping an eye out for just about anything out of the ordinary.

"Looks like he was asleep too." Davis commented.

"This world is a big place. He could have been razing File Island or the Gekomon Castle for all we know." Sora commented.

"Well jeeze, sorry for trying to be a little optimistic!" Davis shot back.

"C'mon guys. We can't afford to bicker." Mimi interrupted.

"Here comes the calvary." Joe said, pointing off to the right. Sure enough, the partners were jumping through the foilage, eager to meet their masters.

"Alright!" Tai enthused. The digimon joined their respective buddies, excited to be back on the job. "No problems, I hope?"

"Well..." Agumon began.

"Kinda a long story, we've got alot to tell you guys." Palmon finished.

"Let's hear it." Izzy said, pulling out his laptop. "I'll take notes."

"Alright, well, this kid started appearing about six weeks ago, I suppose." Gatomon began.

"And we're just finding out now? You have my email address, don't you?" Davis interrupted.

"It's not that simple. He had started appearing, but we didn't know it was him. Random places in the digital world kept reporting disapperances of digimon. We didn't think much of it because they seemed unrelated. Thought they went and got into an accident maybe, just the circle of life. Anyway, three days ago, the tenth unexplained disapperance occured, and this time we managed to get a witness. Said he saw this kid confront him, and then...well, just sort of data-tize him and absorb him." Gatomon finished.

"So...ten incidents..." Izzy repeated. "Anything else?"

"They were all rookie level. Kid probably couldn't pick on anybody his own size." Gatomon said bitterly. "Wish he tried to absorb me, would've given him the ole lightning claw!" She slashed at the air.

"Okay, so...ten rookies...I guess we can assume that made the one crystal." Izzy continued to type quickly. "He uses the one crystal to blow the village, and used the data from that to create three more crystals..." Izzy put his finger to his chin and looked up at the sky. "Near as we could tell-wait, something isn't right."

"What?" Cody asked.

"Well, think about it. If we assume he used ten rookies to make one of those crystals, we'd also assume that one champion makes one crystal, or one ultimate makes ten." He looked over at Davis, who was glancing about, keeping an eye out for the Emperor. "Remember when you tripped over that digimon when we were running through the town?"

"Yeah, and thanks for reminding me! I had nearly forgotten all about it, and man do I love pain!" Davis hissed.

"Sorry, but this is serious. Who'd you trip over?" Izzy asked.

"A Mamemon." Davis said.

"Exactly. An ultimate. Mamemon alone should have made ten crystals. Something's wrong."

"Don't look at me, I'm failing math." Matt said.

"I'm serious. Something doesn't add up with our assumptions. What is it?"

"He wasn't showing all his cards." Ken said suddenly.

"Huh?" Yolei and Sora said.

"To catch a criminal, think like a criminal." Ken responded simply. "I used to be the emperor, remember? I would have done the same thing. Let my enemies get a sense of my power, but keep most of it hidden, so when they move to strike they underestimate what you've got."

"Makes sense." Tai agreed. "Izzy, what's the ballpark?"

"I can't say unless I know how many digimon lived in the village. But based off what we saw..." He looked back up at the sky, in thought. After about a minute, he spoke again. "I'd guess anywhere from eighteen to twenty. Assuming Mamemon was the only ultimate in the village. I didn't see any others, but..." he trailed off.

Somebody whimpered.

"Great! So he's probably got enough explosives to vaporize France!" Davis yelled, kicking up dirt. "Now what?"

"We track him down and put an end to it now." TK said simply. "It sounds like he doesn't even have a partner, and explosives won't help him much in a straight fight. We act now while he's still weak."

"Weak?" Sora questioned. "Maybe you didn't hear right, he's probably-"

"I heard fine. He couldn't take us with a million crystals. They're bombs, nothing more."

"Oh, the ignorance of youth." Came a voice from inside the jungle. As one, the dozen digidestined turned to face it abruptly. Sure enough, the mysterious Emperor stood there, on top of a log just inside the forest.

"You!" Tai shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"And you're not any older than me, so shut it." TK added.

"Very well. You're still ignorant." The boy said.

"Enough! What do you think you're doing?!" Ken yelled.

"Well, the amount of idiocity flying around in this area was so high, I just couldn't stop myself from paying a visit." He looked down at Izzy. "Smart little boy, aren't you?" He then put his hands up to his coat lapels and slowly pulled it open, exposing the interior of it.

Inside the jacket, on both sides, there were five rows of two crystals, kept in place by straps. "So yes, you are indeed correct. Or very close to it. For all the good it does you."

"Twenty!" Cody said quietly.

"Twenty-one, actually, I've already spent one." He said casually.

The group gasped, almost as one. "On what?!" Davis growled, his fingers clenching, clearly desiring to place them around this child's neck.

The Emperor, however, ignored Davis, instead looking at TK. "You and your talking on subjects on which you are oh so ignorant, however, manages to negate the deductive powers of Ken and Izzy, I'm afraid."

"What're you talking about?" TK growled.

"Just bombs? My genius is insulted. Oh, how must want to think they're 'just bombs.' I hope you're happy, your ignorance has managed to draw me out. I feel...compelled...to correct you, you see."

"Enough!" Davis yelled. "You need to be put in your place, so let's just find out how good a digidestined without a partner is!"

The Emperor merely pointed off into the distance, behind the group. Quickly, they turned around. The forest segued into the desert, so there was alot of sand. In the distance, they could make out what appeared to be a dozen small digimon.

"You want to know what I did with the crystal? See for yourself." He commented. When the group turned back, he was gone. Davis immediately sped into the forest, looking around.

"God-"

"Davis, get out of there! We've got business!" Tai yelled. He pulled out his mini-telescope and peered off into the distance.

"What is it?" Yolei asked.

"It's...it's a dozen Agumon, but..."

"C'mon Tai, we can't afford dramatic pauses!" Izzy yelled.

"I think...holy-"

And then, bedlam struck. A series of explosions went off, all around the digidestined. Everyone screamed and threw their hands over their faces, then threw themselves into the forest.

"What was that?!" Davis screamed as even more explosions rocked the area.

"Those Agumon!" Tai yelled. "They didn't have...noses!"

"What?!" Matt yelled back as an explosion knocked a tree over, just missing Mimi as it fell over. "Can you explain that?!"

"They didn't have noses! They had...cannons! Like a Tankmon! I don't think they had arms either! It had guns! It's like someone crossbreeded an Agumon with a Tankmon!"

"Great, so our Emperor thinks himself a Doctor Frankenstein!" Joe screamed as even more trees fell.

"That's about it!" Izzy said. "He's given rookies the power of champions, so we'll need champions of our own!"

Everyone nodded, and pulled out their digivices.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The dozen champions ran off towards the source of the explosions. As Tai had said, they appeared to have a Tankmon's cannon where their noses should have been, and Tankmon machine guns where their arms should have been.

The explosions stopped as the Agumon focused their assualt on the digimon, so the group peered out at the scene.

"Incredible." Izzy said. "The Emperor's managed to combine the small stature of a rookie with the firepower of a champion."

"Well, he can have his half-champions, cuz we've got full-on champions! We've got the advantage!" Davis insisted.

"Hold it." Tai suddenly spoke up, his eye in his mini-telescope. "There's more..."

Greymon unleashed an attack at the group of modified Agumon. It was difficult to make much out from this distance, but they saw the attack land squarely on one of the Agumon.

When the blast faded away, however, the Agumon was standing there, seemingly unfazed by the attack that should have put it out of commission.

"What the-" Ken started, but Tai cut him off.

"They've got shields. On their forearms, they've got metal shields. And I'm betting on them being made from Tankmon armor."

More attacks were exchanged, and the Agumon were able to continually defend themselves from any serious damage.

"Great! They're rookies with all the capabilities of champions!" Ken groaned. "This could take awhile."

"Well, we've still got the advantage." Davis said. "It's twelve on twelve, champions on champions, and we've got the benefit of a ton of fighting experience! The Emperor can play Frankenstein all he wants, we've still got him beat!"

"Here's hoping." Kari said quietly.

Tank shells and Machine Gun bullets were traded for fireballs, electric orbs, and lasers, among others, for some time. However, as the battle waged on in the distance, it became obvious that there was no advantage. The two groups were going blow for blow, neither side showing signs of taking the upper hand.

"What's going on? This should be over by now." Davis moaned.

"Nothing's what it seems with this Emperor." TK said. "We gotta do something to get some leverage, before-"

Suddenly, a fierce explosion rocked the area. One much fiercer than any before it. Out of nowhere, a massive gun emplacement had appeared next to the Agumon, and they had manned it and were now firing it at the chosen digimon.

"What now?!" Cody yelled.

Tai zoomed in on it, even as another volley blew from it's cannon towards Angemon. It blew him right out of the sky, well off into the distance. TK gasped.

"That's a Giga Cannon!" Tai finally said. "Right off Machinedramon's back!"

"Well, that does it!" Joe yelled. "We've gotta get out of here now!"

"No..." Davis groaned. "It's not like it's a Machinedramon, it's just a cannon! We take out the cannon, then maybe we can get our digimon to focus our attacks on each Agumon one at a time! We can do this!"

"Davis, come on! That cannon has the power to blow through Wargreymon's shield! Do you really think your skin will fair any better?!" TK yelled.

"...damn." Davis resigned.

Izzy turned his computer screen out towards the group.

"Wait!" Davis yelled. "We can't leave them here!" He pointed out at the digimon. "This world isn't safe, and we'll need them if we want to beat this Emperor!"

"He's got a point." Matt said.

Davis grabbed his digivice. He began hitting buttons on the top, clearly unsure of how to go about calling a retreat. "C'mon, c'mon, full scale retreat!"

"It doesn't work like that." TK said as he got up. "HEY! RETREAT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Luckily, the digimon were already falling back due to the overwhelming power of the cannon, and heard TK and were more than happy to comply. Greymon was holding an injured Patamon in his hands.

"This place isn't safe anymore, you're coming with us!" Davis said when they got into the forest. "Get ready!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Wow." Was all Davis had to say when everyone had settled down in Izzy's room. "That was sad." Unable to sit, he pushed up from Izzy's bed and started walking around. "C'mon, guys! That's not the way the digidestined are supposed to roll!"

"Well, I'm sorry if we happen to be overmatched by a dozen champions and a Giga Cannons." Tai said through gritted teeth, standing by the door.

"No. That was a dozen rookies with decorations and a Machinedramon's backpack." Davis growled.

"Easy for you to say." Veemon said from the bed. "Gimme a break, I'm out of work. Nothing's happened for two months."

"He's right." Izzy said. "They're out of shape, that's why the Agumon were able to go toe to toe with them for so long. So the first order of business is to knock the rust off."

"All the warmup stretches in the world won't help soon." Sora said dimly. "He had a jacketfull of those crystals, and it only took a couple at most to beat us. He's only gonna get more, and it's not gonna take long."

"Stop being such a-"

"Realist?" Matt finished sarcastically. "She's right, we're gonna need something. Champions aren't gonna cut it. We could probably use some numbers too. You can talk all you like Davis, but what happens when we're starring down a hundred MetalGreymon with triple-barrel Giga Cannons on either shoulder and skin made of pure Digi-Chromozoid?"

Everybody looked at Matt, again leaning against the closet door, oddly. "Just something I came up with on the spot." He shrugged.

"Okay, guys, I know we're all a little embarrassed, but I think we should make our next move now, before the Emperor can build up...something to the tune of what Matt said."

"He's a genius." Came a voice from the corner. Ken was curled up into a fetal position, his knees to his chin, talking to himself. "Pure, raw, genius. I used to dream about pulling something like that off, and he's gone and done it like it's nothing."

"Ken...you alright?" Sora asked.

His eyeballs snapped up to Sora. "I'm scared...he's so much like me...those enhanced Agumon and the detacted Giga Cannon...that took him about half a day to create. In a week who knows what he'll have? A month? Six months? Whatever it is, Matt's little vision of the future won't even be close." He started to shake. "I don't like it."

"Oh, come on Ken, I thought we were past this." Davis began, but Yolei stepped on his foot and shot him a nasty look before he could continue.

"What he's _trying_ to say is...you're not the Emperor anymore. And you know this. What he's doing has nothing to do with what you used to do, and even if it did, that doesn't matter." Yolei finished.

"It's not that. It has nothing to do with that. You were never...like that, you wouldn't understand. I have a vision of the future of the digital world if this Emperor is allowed to continue. I would know, it's the vision that used to be my fantasy. And it's not pretty." He began to rock back and forth slightly, eyes still wide open.

"Enough, Ken. That's exactly why we've got to put an end to it. Time to call in an old friend." Izzy said as he began typing away.


	3. Fire with Fire

Chapter 3: Fire with fire

"I don't think your computer is gonna cut it." Tai said. "Gennai has a habit of only appearing when he wants and being very inaccessible."

"Well, if he ever wanted to appear, now would be the time..." Izzy responded. "And I think I can track him down."

"How?" Joe asked. "You suppose he got a text message program?"

"No...last time we saw him, I managed to track down his signal in the digital world and saved his code to a file." Izzy began. "I know you guys probably don't get it, but you know how you use the find function in a word procession program to track down a particular word or phrase?"

"Sure." Kari said.

"Well, this is kinda the same thing. Once I know where he is, I think I can hail him."

"Brilliant." Ken said under his breath.

"Good thing we've got you around, we'd be completely lost at every turn without you." Cody complemented.

"Thanks." A moment of silence. "Got him."

Everybody jumped up and gathered around the computer. The screen featured a rough map of the digital world. Every few seconds, a portion of the screen would be highlighted, and then the screen would zoom in on that part, presumably getting closer and closer to wherever Gennai was.

"Just a second..." Izzy mumbled. "There we go." He pointed at the middle of his screen. "Right there. Let's see if we can't get him here..." He began typing again. "You guys might want to..." he flicked his hand back and forth. "...back up."

Slowly, everyone gave the computer a bit of room, well aware that all sorts of things can hop right out of the screen when dealing with the digital world.

"You don't suppose he'll play coy?" Yolei asked. "I mean...this is serious, we need him here now."

"We've gotta hope..." Kari trailed off.

And then, the computer began to glow. Slowly, a light beam emerged from it and arced gracefully down to the ground. It rose up and began to take human form. Finally, the light died out and a familiar man was left standing there.

"You called?" Gennai asked. He tossed the hood of his robe down, exposing his face. "That tracking business was a nasty little trick you know." He commented to Izzy.

"Glad you like it." Izzy said, crossing his arms. "I'd say it was worth it, wouldn't you?"

"We'll see." He looked around at the dozen. "I assume you're inquiring about the new emperor?"

Tai sighed. "See, that's what I'm talking about! You know he's out there, you know he's a threat, and we have to hunt you down? You should have been here yesterday! No, forget yesterday, how about six weeks ago, before this guy decided to vaporize an entire...frikkin village?!"

"I'm not all-knowing, friend. I didn't find out about this kid until a few days ago. And I didn't know about the village until it hit the evening news." Gennai responded.

"Okay, then where the hell were you last night? Or this morning? Or..." Tai shook his head. "I'm sorry if I'm coming off a little hostile, but it sounds to me like you were sitting back and watching. There's still alot about the digital world we don't know, we need you."

"I understand." Gennai said slowly. "I confess I made a mistake here. I thought you guys could handle it."

"Well, we got handled." Matt responded. "He forced us into an ugly retreat with pocket change."

"Whoa, whoa." TK interrupted. "Twelve champions and a giga cannon is not pocket change. That's insulting! We would have had a hard time taking out twelve champions and a giga cannon with ultimates!"

"And need I remind you guys, we were about to win until the cannon showed up." Davis threw in. "It's the cannon that kills me, we had him otherwise."

"It doesn't matter what we think. It's pocket change to him." Matt continued. "Did you see his jacket? He had twenty of those crystals! He uses one, and we're running back into the real world with our tails between our legs! It's like a guy with a thousand dollars on him is walkin down the street and gets held up by some lowlife bum with a gun, but the guy gives him fifty bucks. The robber thinks he's Clyde frikkin Barrow because he's never seen fifty bucks in his life and runs off, guy runs off with nine hundred and fifty bucks and forgets about the fifty bucks in twenty minutes. That's what we are, guys! We're the bum! We're supposed to take him for all he's worth, force him to the edge before we pack up and leave! Instead, we get a taste of what he's packing and run!"

A long five seconds passed, with everyone starring at Matt. "Where do you get this stuff?" Ken finally asked.

"It's-it's a song I'm working on."

"Well, I dunno where you're going with that, but for the sake of your musical career, scrap it. That's not a song, that's a...that's a joke, and it's not going anywhere." Tai said, stepping in front of Matt. "I'm trying to give you some really good advice here, just throw it out."

"Oh, oh, and you've appeared on stage in front of three thousand at the Amphitheatre...how many times?"

"Don't play that game with me, I listen to music, and I know enough to say-"

"You ever make the top 100 on the billboards? How many times have you made it on the Today Show?"

"Everyone makes it on the today show! It runs every day for three hours, they got more hours then they know what to do with! I could go outside and drink out of the sewer and get on the today show!"

"If you two are done." Gennai finally said, silencing the room. "Interesting metaphor, Matt, I'll want to hear that song when you're done. And you're right. He beat you with one crystal, not even five percent of what he's packing. That's not good. Not good at all."

"Well, it's not our fault we keep losing our powers as soon as we get it." Patamon commented.

"He's right." Agumon agreed. "As soon as the initial crisis passes, you take away our ability to go to ultimate or mega."

"And as soon as Malomyotismon hit the turf you took away the DNA digivolving stuff." Armadillomon added.

"Well, that's the way it has to be. It's a very precise balance, I give you enough power to defeat the forces of evil, and after you do, you give it up to be used for other purposes, I think it's perfectly fair." Gennai touched his hand to his chest. "What, you need an ultimate digimon to go blow up your school? You want a mega so you can go provoke a world war?"

"Okay, but we do need it now." Joe replied. "And I'm sure you can concur that it's for a good cause. Do you really want this Emperor fellow to do...whatever it is he plans to do?"

"Of course not." Gennai said. "You'll get whatever you need."

"Of course, it occurs to me if we had what we needed this morning, we wouldn't be sitting around here talking about how we got trashed by some snot-nosed kid who likes jewelry." Davis grumbled.

"You know, I am doing my best here! I dunno what happened in the last two months, but I'm gonna need some understanding and support from you guys if this is gonna work." Gennai hissed.

"Sorry. They're just a little embarrassed from the last two days." Izzy reasoned.

"I can imagine." He looked around the room. "Alright." He walked over to the bed and sat down. "You guys want ultimates? Done. You want DNA digivolving? Done. Are we good?"

"I think you're short a pair of megas." Tai said, pointing at Agumon and Gabumon.

Gennai looked at the pair, rubbing his chin. "I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best. This Emperor kid's been poking around with the digital world's structure. He's trying to make it impossible to digivolve to mega, and I'm afraid to say the kid's a genius. But I'll see what I can do."

"It occurs to me," Ken began "that it would be an advantage if we" he pointed at himself, Davis, Yolei, and Cody "could go to ultimate as well. I mean, a DNA digivolved digimon has the same power as an ultimate, but takes two digimon to create, so we'd be doubling-"

"No dice, Ken." Gennai shook his head. "I can give you back what you had and lost in the past, but giving you something new is a Centaurumon of another color. Now, it's feasible that there is a way for you four-" he motioned toward the quartet of new-generation digimon "-to reach the ultimate level, but you'll have to find it for yourself. If I can help, I will, but the onus is on you guys."

Davis failed to supress a giggle. TK looked over at him, squinting his eyes.

"What?" He dared to ask. "What? Onus?" Davis giggled again. "Oh yeah, that's SO funny. Yeah, Onus, real nice."

"Sorry, it just sounds like-"

TK pinched his eyes. "You know, in a time of crisis, we need a serious, responsible leader. Could you be any more childish? What is wrong with you, seriously?"

"I don't get it..." Kari said slowly. Sora leaned over and whispered in her ear for a moment. After pulling away, Kari couldn't help but shoot a sarcastic look at Davis.

"If we're done." Gennai said loudly. "I'll be on my way. Give me about ten minutes to set things up, and then you can come in-"

Suddenly, the computer screen went blue. Everyone turned to it, attracted by the loud 'typing noise' coming from the speakers. A sentence was being typed out in the middle, letter by letter. After a few seconds, it was done.

_Azulongmon sends his regards_

Then, the words mashed together in the middle of the screen in the form of a glowing orb, then emerged from the computer screen. The light beam flew into Gennai's hands and took the form of a short staff with a fist-sized orb at the end.

"Hmm?" Gennai hummed, looking it over closely. He flipped it about in his hands, examining the orb, then the staff itself.

"What do we have here?" Izzy said quietly.

"Ah." Gennai finally said. He then slowly motioned towards Ken with his left hand. "This is yours."

Ken crossed his arms over his chest, not moving. "What, is this a joke?"

"What are you talking about?" Gennai asked.

"I don't cosplay." He put his palm up to his forehead, leaning his head forward onto it. "That was one time. One time! And while we're at it, I don't play D and D either, so-"

"Ken. Azulongmon wouldn't use one of his precious digicores on a joke. Come here." Gennai responded quietly. Ken immediately complied, recognizing something serious was at hand.

"Now." He began, his voice much more neutral and flat than before. "I need you to be honest. Are you past it? Because if you aren't, I'm wasting my time, and quite a bit of Azulongmon's resources. I don't care if you aren't, I only care that you be honest."

Ken glanced around, going slightly red. "Yes, I'm...I'm past it. I'm positive."

"Good." He then placed the staff in Ken's hands. He took it slowly, then raised the orb up to his face and peered into it.

"So what's going on here?" Mimi finally asked. "I'm lost."

Gennai stood up. "I can give you ultimates. Hell, I can give you megas. But this...Emperor is more powerful than anything than we've ever faced before, potentially. Four years ago, we got taken to our limits fighting the Dark Masters, give this guy a month or two and he'll have the all four Dark Masters cloned a hundred times over and marching all over the place. You thought Myotismon was tough? Give this guy time and he'll have a thousand of em, kneeling at his feet. We've got to play his game."

"Interesting." Ken said slowly, holding the rod.

"This Emperor possesses unique powers. He can absorb just about anything inside the digital world, pretty much anything that's alive, and convert it into his crystals. He can do anything his little heart desires with these crystals. He can make a nuclear bomb, a burrito, a paper airplane, whatever. Those crystals represent power itself. And what he can do with them is limited only by how much he has and his creativity."

"I see...I see..." Ken muttered, rubbing his hands all over the grip.

"None of you can do what he can do. Why? I don't know. But this staff has the power to emulate what the Emperor does. So basically, this staff is capable of absorbing things inside the digital world and converting it into...let's call it power, which Ken can then do whatever he wants with."

"Incredible!" Izzy said under his breath. He got up and walked over to Ken, looking at the staff closely. "This changes _everything_."

"Yes, yes it does. Azulongmon took the liberty of filling the tank for you, but please don't waste, it cost him a digicore." Gennai responded.

"Why does he get it?" Davis asked, scratching his forehead. "I mean...I know we don't have an official agreement, but I am sort of the leader here-"

"Do you remember two months ago, when Ken opened the portal to the Dark Ocean?" Gennai asked rhetorically.

"Sure." A couple of them chorused.

"Ken may be as good as good can be now, but he used to be evil. And you can't change the past." Gennai pointed at Ken's chest. "There's still darkness in there. He may have it well under control, but it's still there."

"So this...whole business with power and manipulation and absorbing...requires that darkness?" Ken asked.

"Yes. It's not exactly a...nice thing, absorbing things and recycling it for your own purposes." Gennai nodded. "So it's sort of an...awkward situation."

"So Ken would be like Mace Windu?" Izzy asked.

The entire group set their eyes on Izzy.

"Can you explain that-" Sora started.

"Shut up!" Tai hissed. But it was too late.

"Well, you know Star Wars, right?"

Everyone gave varying degrees of nods.

"Alright, well, Mace Windu is a jedi. He uses Form VII lightsaber combat, which is a very violent form that's borderline dark side. He uses alot of jedi powers that borders on the line between light and dark."

"Thanks alot, Pandora." Tai hissed. "You might wanna go get some peanuts."

Sora blushed. "Sorry."

"But he's a jedi, so he's on the side of good. So he has to be careful with using these powers. He has to keep himself under control and always be able to bring himself back to the light. Like, when he lightsaber fights, he uses his anger to augment his power. That's like, the foundation that the sith build their combat on, channeling anger into power."

Joe snickered, his hand over his mouth. "Can you believe this kid?" He muttered to himself.

"So, that's kinda what Ken has to do now. He has to use 'evil' powers to help the good guys win. He has to be careful, walking across the line of evil without crossing it, and always being able to come back afterwards."

"Alright, alright, can we stop with the stories and metaphors?" Tai finally said. "Yes, Izzy, it's like Mace Windu. Whatever."

"Okay. Ken, we clear? If you're really over the whole emperor thing, you'll be fine. But if you've got any...inhibitions or issues with this, I need to scrap it now."

"No." Ken replied, but with a hint of a squeak in his voice. "No, I've got it. I'll do it."

"Good. Using it isn't particularly complicated, and you're a smart boy...it's pretty much point and shoot. Remember, keep the tank full." Gennai said with a wink. "I'd hurry towards Digi-China Town, I've heard rumors something's going down."

"Alright. I've always wanted to be a wizard." Ken remarked, his face starting to lighten up a bit.

"Oh yeah. Ken?" Gennai said, moving towards the computer. "This...Emperor is like nothing we've ever faced before. He's a serious threat to both worlds. And the digidestined, namely you now, are all that stands in his way. So, when things get rough, you're gonna have to let some morals go in the name of the greater good."

"What are you trying to say?" Ken asked, hugging the rod tightly to his chest, looking up at him.

A short pause. "You gotta do...what you gotta do." And then, Gennai became a shapeless beam of light and flashed back into the computer.

"Well, looks like we've bought back into the game." Izzy said abruptly. "Let's get going. Digi-China Town it is."

Everyone gathered around the computer, ready for round three.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright then." The group looked around. Open plains made up most of the area, with Digi-China Town set up just to their right. It was a hubub of activity as usual, digimon shopping and eating authentic Asian objects and food. All was well, for the moment. "Nothing yet..."

"Just as well." Davis said. "Am I the only one who remembers Gennai asked for ten minutes first?" 

The group groaned. "Right, right!" Izzy said, facepalming.

"Well, you didn't remember it until it was too late to matter, so maybe you should just-" TK started.

"C'mon, guys." Tai interrupted. "We're here, so let's just go scout around. We can use up ten minutes that way."

The group walked into the China-Town replica, everyone cautiously peering about for any sign of trouble. But they couldn't help but notice some other things as well.

"It's beautiful." Kari commented, walking up to a shop window and looking in at some figurines. "This is such a nice place." She pressed her cheek up to the window. "We can't let him. He can't have this place." She pushed off the glass and took a seat on a bench right next to the front door. "We can't let him have it." Inspite of what she had to say, she was talking quietly, softly, almost as one already defeated, or drained.

The group looked about at the large crowds moving from one place to the next. "She's right, for more than one reason. The population here is dense, if he absorbs this place he'll probably make a house made of crystals." Tai commented.

"Looks that way." Izzy checked his watch. "So long as nothing happens for three minutes, we're looking good."

"Great." They heard a passing Demidevimon comment. "The digidestined, I suppose this mean the Emperor fellow will be here any minute." He kicked off the ground and started flying away.

"Oh, that's real nice." Davis hissed. "Have a little faith, huh?"

"Yeah right." They heard the Demidevimon say as he continued flying away. "Good luck, you're gonna need it."

"Can you blame him?" Tai asked. "I mean, I think we can win too, but running away from the battlefield is pretty smart."

"As long as we're promoting cowardice, maybe we should try and get the place evacuated." Davis spat.

"Why do your best ideas come when you're being bitter and sarcastic?" TK asked. "Let's see if we can't clear the place-"

And then, a mass of mechanical whirring could be heard off in the distance. Then, a jarring explosion rocked the entire town, sending everybody to the ground. They could hear fragile objects crash to the ground, shattering inside the shops.

Slowly, the group stood up, watching assorted digimon jump up and begin running around in a panic.

"Nice emergency evacuation plan!" Joe yelled. The group bolted for the front entrance. "Everyone, get inside and stay inside!" Those who could hear Joe seemed to follow his advice. Hopefully everyone else would follow suit.

They got to the front gates of China Town. Using the outer walls of the town as cover, they peered out. Off in the distance, they could make out what appeared to be a dozen digimon of considerable berth.

"Tai, what do we got?" Izzy asked warily.

Tai whipped out his telescope and peered out at the collection of digimon. "I've got...twelve Tankmon...but I don't think they're run-of-the-mill Tankmons..."

"Oh, great." Yolei said to herself. "What now?"

"I'm not sure...but those arm turrets have been modified somehow. I've seen them somewhere, but can't place it...and the armor looks thicker from here...I think the cannon's bigger too." He pulled the telescope down from his eye. "Hit the deck." He said calmly before flinging himself face down to the dirt.

The group followed suit, even as another explosion generated a small earthquake. More telltale sounds of things breaking and shattering sounded off. After a few seconds, the aftershocks subsided and everyone got back up.

"That didn't feel like a hyper cannon, that was way more powerful." Izzy commented. "Something's not right...hold on." He pulled out his laptop. "I think I can figure this out."

A few awkward moments passed, everyone bracing for another explosion. Finally, Izzy spoke up. "Those are Palidramon's guns..."

"Oh great. He's gone and made ultimates out of champions!" Ken yelled. "When does the madness stop?!"

"That isn't it..." he continued to type away "he's not firing Tankmon missiles. I think those are Andromon's missiles. The armor...it looks like he's melted down MetalGreymon head armor, or something."

"Great. Great!" Davis spat. "We leave him alone for thirty minutes and he goes and plays mad scientist on champions!"

"Calm down." Tai soothed. "We can take them."

"No, I'd say the boy's reactions are pretty spot on." Came a voice that had the unfortunate habit of starting to talk out of nowhere at inopportune times.

The group turned around wildly, as one, to stare upon the Emperor, standing just behind them, having just emerged from one of the antique shops.

"You!" Matt hissed.

"Yes, me. I'm afraid Davis is right to panic. It's simple math. I beat you less than an hour ago with a single of my crystals, quite handily might I had." He pointed out at the dozen Tankmon. "Now, I must ask, what makes you think you can stand against two?" 

"We haven't exactly been...sitting around the last half-hour, if you must know." Tai said slowly. "What the hell are _you_ doing here anyway?"

It was then that the group noticed a small vase, swirls of green and white covering it's surface, in his left hand. He looked down at it quickly, then back up at the dozen digidestined and their partners.

"It's a nice piece, okay?" He lifted it up in front of his face, looking at it. "It'd just be a shame for it to go to pieces like everything else in here."

Davis couldn't suppress a snort. Sora followed up with a giggle.

"What? Having taste makes me less of a supervillian?" He put the vase under his arm. "You know what? Whatever." He looked behind him. "It's a nice piece. Anyway, the point is, I beat you with one earlier, I'm beating you with two now. And you're not walking away from this one."

And then, a third explosion quaked the town. A torrent of further delicate objects hit the ground and broke into a thousand pieces.

"See?" He held up the vase. "Look what would have happened if I wasn't there. Anyway, that's the third warning shot." He gave a mock bow. "Must be going." And then, he was gone, seemingly disappearing from sight.

"Instead of talking, maybe next time we see him, we should just get him." Davis commented.

"Doubt it'll be that easy." Mimi responded. The gang looked out at the Tankmon, who were now marching on the town.

"We can't let them penetrate the town, or it's over." Ken commented.

"Well, wave your magic stick and let's see some fireworks!" Davis grunted.

"I'm thinking..." Ken trailed off, looking at the rod. "Conservation is the name of the game."

"Well, think faster!" Tai yelled. "We've got two minutes tops."

Ken looked around at the digidestined and their partners. "Alright, I've got an idea. Gatomon, how's your aim?" 

"You don't worry about that, just tell me what to do." Gatomon replied.

"Alright." He peered off towards the Tankmon, slowly getting closer and closer. "Patamon, you're in on this too. We might not be able to beat them straight, but we can dismantle them." He looked around at all the other digimon. "All of you get digivolving, we'll need it."

-------------------------------------------------------

Patamon took his champion form and Gatomon her ultimate, taking cover behind the walls. They pulled out their respective bows and notched an arrow to them.

"Once the first arrows hit, we've got a couple of seconds before they start shooting back." Ken spoke.

"Why aren't they firing now?" Yolei asked.

"They're moving into ideal attack formations. They don't know about the ultimates, or this." He held up the rod "So they think they can take their time." He looked up at Angemon and Angewomon. "Fire fast, accurately, and as one, or this won't work. Once they start shooting the game's over."

And then, Angemon and Angewomon popped up above the wall and fired. Almost as soon as the arrows left their bow, they had another, and fired again. And again. And again.

Finally, the first volley struck their marks. The twin arrows crashed right into a Tankmon, just above the top row of teeth on it's mouth. Their aim, even over this long distance, was true, and the top of the Tankmon's head was severed off. The next Tankmon met the same fate before he even noticed that of the one right next to him. The one next in line also had the top of his head, and thus the most important part of himself, the cannon, chopped off. The army finally started to catch on as the fourth Tankmon was dismembered, and began shooting back.

Angemon and Angewoman ducked down, letting the shells crash into the wall. Unfortunately, the wall was hardly built to take an assualt, and was about to crash down on the group.

Ken raised his rod up to the falling wall, which suddenly moved in reverse, assembling back as it was before the assualt. He then peered out from behind the wall and pointed his rod's orb out towards the charging, now firing, Tankmon.

The four severed Tankmon tops flew over at high speeds, flying over the wall and landing in a heap next to Ken. Three of the four suddenly came together and melded into one, triple barrel cannon. Ken went up to the wall they were using as cover and knocked a large hole near the base of it. The triple-barreled cannon rammed itself through the hole, so as the three barrels were pointing in the general direction of the coming Tankmon. He ran up to the wall and held his rod against it, keeping it standing against the torrent of attacks from the Tankmon.

"Awesome." Izzy said quietly. "It's...it's my every fantasy come true-"

"You're kidding, right?" Joe said slowly.

"Somebody man the turret! Tankmon season is open!" Ken pointed wildly at a butt of the triple-turret, which had a scope and trigger. He then gestured at the Digimon. "Somebody take the other gun, do with it what you will!"

To Ken's dismay, the digidestined all looked at each other, paused, and then began a round robin tournament of rock-paper scissors without even discussing it.

"Oh, come on-"

And then, he saw the digimon doing the exact same thing.

"This is serious!" He squinted his eyes closed shut, rubbed them for a moment, and then shook his head vigorously. "TK, get on the turret! MagnaAngemon, take the gun!"

"Why?!" Davis couldn't help but yell, clearly very eager to man a machine of pure destruction like the turret seemed to be.

"Because I-" A fierce explosion rocked the wall, nearly sending it down on the group inspite of Ken's best efforts. He only barely managed to push it back up. "-said so!"

The group finally broke, a host of ultimate and champion digimon running out from cover towards the firing Tankmon. MagnaAngemon grabbed the large cannon and joined the group,

"Have we gotten so caught up we don't even consider the morality of this whole thing?" Cody yelled. "Those are perfectly good digimon! Is it right to-"

"I've gotta do what I gotta do!" Ken yelled, sweating furiously with the effort of supporting the wall.

TK stood behind the cannon, peering through the scope. "Years of Counterstrike, don't fail me now." He muttered, placing his finger in the trigger.

He took aim at one of the headless Tankmon, running around blindly, waving it's machine gun arms, and fired. An Andromon-variety missile fired from the mouth, almost instantly crossing the distance between the cannon and the Tankmon, exploding fiercely on it's torso.

The cannon rotated, bringing a instantly fresh barrel to the top. He fired again, then again a half second later. The already injured Tankmon was in a fiery blaze, the organic missiles punturing and razing the armor.

A small alarm went off. TK pulled his eye back and saw a small red light on right above the trigger.

"Let it reload!" Ken yelled. The fire of the Tankmon was focused on the digimon now, so Ken was able to take a breather from keeping it up. The group peeked out at the battle.

Courtesy of TK, the digidestined now had the strength of numbers. Which they needed, as they were eight ultimates and four champions taking on eight ultimates and (now) three headless ultimates, in essence. Megakabuterimon fired off his horn blaster at one of the Tankmon, searing through layers armor with the electric charge. MetalGreymon unleashed his Giga Blaster. MagnaAngemon went in with his arm sword. With each attack from the collection of digimon, armor was melted away and the air was filled with a strong acrid smell.

The Tankmon continued to fire away wildly even as their defenses were weakened to the very brink of nothingness. Every few seconds, TK would help out with his triple barrel cannon, each shot causing vicious damage to anything in his crosshairs.

Seeing defenses being worn down, MagnaAngemon jumped into the air and brought his gun to bear. He flew up high into the air, then would come back down and fire a shot at point blank range into the head of a Tankmon. The results were nearly comical, a volatile missile embedding itself deep into the body of the Tankmon before erupting, melting the Tankmon into practically nothing.

Every ten seconds, MagnaAngemon would come back down and dispose more nasty justice to the injured Tanks. In the meantime, the fight waged on. WereGarurumon, having been peppered with machine gun fire down his right chest and a missile in his left arm, punched his arm right into the torso of one of the Tankmon and ripped a series of cords out, effectively shutting down the Tank.

"This isn't right!" Cory suddenly said, watching the fight before him with a twisted face, clearly not comfortable with the indifference everyone else had to killing digimon without a very good reason.

"C'mon, Cody..." Kari trailed off.

TK fired off another shell at an already-scalded Tank, striking it right in the mouth, disposing of it in an instant. "Crash and burn, mother-"

"TK!" Kari hissed. TK glanced over, gave an awkward smile, and quickly went back to the turret.

"Right. Right, that's my bad." He said robotically.

"So we're killing innocent digimon _and_ enjoying it now?!" Cody yelled.

"We don't have time to figure out the how and why of these Tankmon! They're allied with the Emperor, and it's well within their power to level this entire town! We've got a chance to take care of them now, we've gotta take it, whatever that happens to mean doing!" Ken yelled back to Cody. Even as he spoke, ExVeemon ripped open the back torso of a Tankmon and Lilymon blew her cannon right into the hole, causing an explosion from the very heart.

"It's barbaric!" Cody yelled.

"So it'd be okay if we killed them with monocles and high tea with crumpets at noon?" Joe couldn't help but respond.

"This is war! It's what has to be done!" Ken said, bracing the wall for further impact from errant tank shells.

Cody turned away, his face still glazed over, conflicted over what they were doing.

"Time to mop up." TK said quietly to himself. His hand fell on a switch on the right side of the turret, just within his reach around the curve of the barrel. "Gimme a shot!" He yelled.

"Fall back!" Sora relayed to the digimon. They did so, leaving only a pair of Tankmon, both down to the last dregs of armor clinging onto their exoskeleton, like well-cooked ribs cling to a bone.

TK fired. All three barrels fired at once, sending synchronized shots at the two Tankmon. The explosive volleys struck the duo at once, creating a eruption of fire and smoke as they hit. A few seconds later, it cleared, and a pair of twisted heaps of metal were all that remained.

TK jumped up from the cannon, sweating, hopping around. "Done and done." He cricked his neck violently. "And not a scratch on her." He gestured with his thumb at the town.

A collection of battle-worn digimon went came around the wall, de-digivolving back to rookie and collapsing in a messy heap. Their respective partners picked them up, inspecting wounds borne of explosions and gunfire.

"Oh, hold on." Ken ran out from behind the wall, pointing his staff up at the skies. "Need to fill it up."

"No!" Cody yelled. Ken rolled his eyes, facing away so nobody could see, then turned around to face him.

"Yeah. Great idea, we can go home and fill it up! I hear it takes unleaded! If we all pool our life savings, we might just manage to-"

"It's wrong! We're gonna destroy them without even bothering to figure out their story, then prevent them from coming back so we can get the power to destroy more?! Am I the only one who sees what we're doing?!"

Ken looked up at the skies, stuck his tongue out to the side, and sighed deeply. "Alright. I didn't want to have to do this...but...what're you gonna do about it?"

A standoff ensued for several seconds, with both of them looking at each other intently. Cody with frustration, Ken with smug assurance. Finally, Cody backed off to the ground, resentfully.

"Thank you." Ken said softly before turning back to the skies. Glittering power rained down into the orb of his rod. After a few quick seconds, at least quick in comparison to the ones just before it, Ken lowered the staff to his waist.

"Alright, so, we saved the town, beat back the forces of the Emperor, even though he used two crystals, without much difficulty might I add-" Tai began.

Sora abruptly pointed at the digimon, who still were clearly showing the aftereffects of a battle.

"...it's only flesh wounds." Tai said meekly, shrugging. "Good meal, good night's sleep, couple of patches...anyway, and now the Emperor knows we are a force to be reckoned with. We should probably get home, I'd say that's a nice day's work."

"You wanna salvage those?" TK asked, pointing at the used cannons.

"Not much left..." Ken walked over to the two weapons of destruction, thinking. "Ah, what the hell?" He waved at them and they disappeared.

Izzy began the process of activating the digiport.

"So, Ken, I guess you're a wizard now." Davis commented. "You have a title? Ken the...hmm...what's a color that starts with K?"

"The color doesn't _have_ to start with the same letter as my name. Like Gandalf the White."

"Okay, what's your favorite color?" Matt asked. "Blue? Ken the Blue."

"So what, I'm a depressed wizard?" Ken snickered.

"No, it's perfect. You're an emo wizard. I like it." Yolei said.

"But I don't wanna be an emo wizard!" Ken paraphrased.

"Okay. You want a cape? I've got one at home that smells like french fries." Izzy said as the portal sparked to life.

"I've got a sensitive nose and hate fast food. I'll puke."

Everyone burst into a good amount of laughter as the portal absorbed them all in. But, just as they were being thrown back into the real world, Ken and Cody locked in a nasty glare that lasted just a split second. But it was enough to leave the distinct impression that all was not well. Far from it.


	4. War

Chapter 4: War

First, this could be the last chapter in this story for a little while...I'm going to try and finish The Wall, and that has thirteen chapters left and is a pretty complex fic, so it could be awhile. I don't want to abandon it.

Second, thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing. But I can't help but notice alot of people seem to be reading without reviewing. I don't want to pressure you if you don't want to...but I'll just say that I'm more likely to work faster on updates if I think alot of people are showing interest in the fic. So if you like what you're reading, I encourage you to review, even if you don't have anything particularly insightful to say. Just say that you like what you see, comment on something specific, I don't really care...just show that you like it.

Third...yes, I bumped the rating up from K+ to T, but the fic itself shouldn't change. I'm not adding any adult themes, I just wanna be safe because I don't want it taken down because of a technicality. So the fic won't get any more adult...if you've been fine to this point, don't worry about it.

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"Sounds like you had an awfully nice night." Ken said, poking at a tomato in his salad. It was a slow day at the mall, just a trickle of customers flowing about through the shops, and he and Tai had decided to stop off for a quick salad.

"You bet. And it was all possible because I keep a spare in the glove compartment." He pointed at Ken with his fork before sticking it back into his bowl of greens. "Remember that, best advice I think I can give any man."

"We've got an emperor running amuck in the digital world, you know. You should be trying to get some sleep, this isn't like a few months ago. We need you. We need all twelve of the digidestined to bring their A-game every day, or we've already lost."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good for it. Besides, what can I do anymore? You're the one with the magic stick! I've become irrelevant!" He leaned in, over his bowl. "Hey, you want me to get you a pair of goggles? I can steal em right off Davis's head if you'd like. It's sort of the trademark of the leader, and-"

"I don't wear goggles." Ken said shortly, reaching for his water glass as Tai fell back into his seat. "The gesture is nice, however. Now, I'm going to assume that you didn't advise we come here for the..." he motioned down at the salad with his fork "...food. You have something you want to say?"

Tai glanced around, then leaned back in. "We're waiting."

"For the health inspector?" He poked around in his lettuce. "Good, because I swear I saw a dead wasp in here."

"Izzy's been talking with Gennai. We've got some new information." Tai pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch. "We're supposed to meet in about three minutes, in that empty store that used to sell slasher movies."

"Why all the secrecy?" Ken glanced around. "Was it my french fries comment? Because his room doesn't smell like french fries, at least I don't think so. And I would know!"

"No...we don't know this Emperor kid. We don't know who he is in the real world. We don't even know his name. He could be sitting next to me in algebra, or behind me in science. He could live next door to any one of us. So we've decided to mix up our meeting locations for the time being."

Ken nodded. "Why call the meeting?"

"Well, we do need to go into the digital world and let the Emperor know we're down for another hand if he wants. Give him a full day alone in there, he'll probably have made a digimon entirely out of giga cannons or...something."

Ken bit his lower lip. "Uh-huh." It has his turn to lean in. "Now, I have to ask you something." He turned around, carefully making sure nobody was around, before turning back. "Did you call in the bomb threat this morning?"

Tai went red. "Well, how else was I gonna get school to cancel for the rest of the day?"

"Ohhh, oh!" Ken threw his fork to the ground. "You idiot! Do you read the news?! You can't just call in random bomb threats to get out of school because you feel like it!"

"Do you mind?" Tai put his palm up, facing Ken. "Be quiet. This saving the world gig is more important than school."

"Do you have any idea what'll happen if you get caught?! You're looking at eight years, and that's _if_ you get tried as a juvenile!"

"Will you calm down? I took care of it, and I'm not getting caught, that's all that matters."

"And I suppose you called in one at the high school too?" Ken hissed, standing up.

"Nah, that was Matt."

"Oh, bunch of geniuses I'm working with!" Ken looked up at the ceiling. "Ever hear of faking sick? Cutting class? Something that isn't a major criminal offense?"

"C'mon, let's go." Tai had turned his focus on a garbage can against the wall opposite the food court. Ken turned around to look at it. Joe was standing next to it. He pulled out what appeared to be a perfectly good orange and threw it in to the can before briskly walking away.

"Change of plans." Tai said, pushing up from the table. "We're meeting in the movie theater, screen number twelve. The projector's broken so we should be clear." He began walking away from the table. Ken got up and followed.

"Like a regular Mata Hari." Ken mumbled sarcastically.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, everyone here?" Izzy asked, sitting in a chair in the upper left corner, facing everyone else.

"Looks that way." Tai said, looking things over. "Twelve people...twelve digimon. Alright, let's do this."

"Alright. Gennai's been poking around, he's got some new information." Izzy opened his laptop up. "This Emperor kid. His name is Cory Bradford. Born in America, parents unknown. Kid's been skipping around foster homes his entire life, but they never last more than a year."

"Little brat? I knew it." Davis interrupted.

"No. He had some really bad luck. Every set of parents he ever had died. It's crazy, it looks like he had a dozen foster set of parents kick the bucket. Anyway, two years ago, he came to Japan to try his luck here. But two more sets of parents died, and then about two months ago, he 'disappeared' and was never found. Presumed dead."

"Lines up. He ran away to the digital world and never came back." Ken mused. "Interesting."

"Yup. That's about all we got on the kid. Point is, he's a human child just like the rest of us. And he hasn't touched the real world in two months, so we can't attack him from that angle."

"That's all we could dig up?" Ken asked, disappointed.

"He's a bit of a mystery, I know. Gennai did find out some other things, however." He looked at Cody. "I know you've got issues with what we're doing, so here's the lowdown. Those Agumon and Tankmon are regular digimon, who were just going around wherever minding their own business as recent as...a couple days ago."

"I knew it!" Cody said through gritted teeth.

"But-but that's not the whole thing. They weren't tainted or manipulated in any way. It's all bribery. Cory offers them his modifications in exchange for loyalty. I'm afraid even the best digimon often can't resist the idea of basically digivolving without actually digivolving, so he doesn't have any problems getting forces together."

"Genius." Ken said quietly. Everyone turned to face him. "He's found a way to form an army of immense power by using currently existing digimon, without corrupting them directly. It's even incredibly efficient since he only has to use parts of digimon for his enhancements."

"Exactly." Izzy continued. "Right now, his capabilities are limited by his low supply of power, so he's being as efficient as possible in building up his forces. Unfortunately, it doesn't make a bit of difference for us. Now, as best as we can assume, his plan goes a little something like this: Build up a massive army of digimon who are willing to do anything to get his magic modifications, take over the entire digital world, and then one of two things. He either absorbs everything, converts it into power, and then does who knows what, or builds a nice throne and takes his place as ruler of the digital world."

"Plus...I'm willing to bet the digimon in his army will grow stronger on their own." Ken said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Mimi asked.

"Well, the Digimon in his army get exposed to battles and fights. As they continue to fight, they get stronger and stronger, they might even digivolve on their own from all the fighting experience they'll get."

"That sounds accurate. So at the end, if Cory decides he wants to absorb everything, he'll have that much more power to draw on." Izzy finished. "When you think about it, that's basically generating power at no cost to him. It naturally occurs out of nowhere."

"So basically...we haven't seen anything yet." Matt stated.

"There's alot of stuff in the digital world. Alot. And he only needs a tiny fraction of it to get the ball rolling. And once he gets the ball rolling, he's gonna keep rolling until he's got everything." Izzy metaphorized. "So we've gotta get him now, before that ball can get started."

"So, we can safely estimate he's sitting on eighteen of his crystals right now." Sora said slowly.

"Maybe he's nocturnal. I mean, he could be doing anything during the night..." Kari trailed off. "If he's not coming into the real world anyway."

"Well, if he can attack during the night, he hasn't yet." Izzy responded.

"You sound pretty confident." TK said.

"I've set up a system of relays. In the event of an attack, or the rumor of an attack, I'm alerted within ninety seconds. I investigate quickly, then call you guys up if it's serious. Response time shouldn't be any more than seven minutes."

"Nice work. But when do we sleep?" Tai couldn't help but inquire.

"I dunno. Energy drinks, hypnosis, naps...whatever. But we've got to be constantly on call." Izzy pointed to his drink holder, which was holding a can of _Wired._

"So if we can stay on top of things, he should be prevented from obtaining more power." Matt concluded. "He'll keep throwing his crystals at us, but if we can hold him back, his storage will deplete fast. Then, when he's out of power and is back to trying to find rookies to absorb, we finish the job."

"It's not that simple. Destroying towns and attacking digimon is just one thing Cory is capable of doing to get power." Izzy corrected. "He could find digimon who would volunteer to be absorbed-"

"What do you mean?" TK interrupted. "Who'd volunteer to get sacrificed so someone like Cory has a little more gas in his tank?"

"You'd be surprised." Izzy picked up his drink and drank from it before continuing. "There are digimon who strongly believe in what Cory's doing. They're willing to sacrifice themselves in the name of it."

"What is it they believe he's doing?" Davis asked.

"Uniting the entire digital world under the rule of one person. I guess it's appealing to the right digimon." Izzy shrugged "The point is, he could do that, he could mine it from underground, he could buy it off the black market...there are alot of things he can do that we'd never notice. Hell, he might've already done them."

"Well...then what can we do?" Joe asked. "If we can't stop him now, and we sure can't stop him later, when do we stop him?"

Silence followed, everyone turning their heads to Ken.

"We've got three options, the way I see it." Ken began, holding up the index, middle and ring finger of his left hand. "We convince him to see our side of the story, see if he wants to join the rest of the digidestined in trying to save the two worlds."

"Scratch that one." Tai said immediately. "It sounds nice, but a little too nice to be reasonable. Not gonna happen, unless you've got Henry Kissinger on speed dial."

"I figured as much." He brought down his ring finger. "Two, we go in there now and go on the offensive. Instead of just coming around to protect the town or save the innocent digimon, we seek Cory out ourselves. If we can do it quickly, he might be exposed enough for us to deal with before he gets out of hand. We wait too long, he's got a base made of Metalseadramons and Positron Lasers."

"I'm not feeling it. If he keeps the crystals on him, which I'm sure he does, it won't work." TK reminded.

"I was thinking a sneak attack. Maybe have Angemon snipe him from a distance or something."

Izzy shook his head. "Good concept, but the odds are stacked against us. We probably won't be able to track him down, and then the issue of actually dealing with him is another thing entirely."

"Alright." He pulled down his middle finger, leaving just one up. "So we're down to my last idea."

"Let's hear it." Sora encouraged.

"We play his game." Ken nodded slowly. "We build up our own reserves of power. We recruit our own army. We set up to go toe-to-toe with him for the long haul. Hopefully, we can wear down on him over time."

"I like it." Yolei said quickly.

"Course you like it, it's all we got." Matt responded.

"Seriously though. It works. Very ambitious, won't be easy...but we can do it." Tai said.

"Hold it." Kari spoke up. "What's our advantage?"

"What do you mean?" Ken asked.

"Well, whatever Cory can give the digimon, you can. But whatever you can give the digimon, Cory can. You're both capable of doing the same things."

"We're the digidestined. That our advantage! We're on the side of all that's good and decent, how can any digimon with so much as a speck of honor turn that down?" Davis responded.

"It's a nice thought, but we can't depend on that. The reality is the digimon are likely to side with whoever they think will win." Izzy responded.

"Everyone wants to be a winner." Ken added. "And we're batting three hundred and thirty three in meetings with Cory, so we're already playing catchup."

"So we need an advantage." Kari said. "Any ideas?"

Ken put his right index finger to his chin for a second, then snapped his fingers and started pointing at the girls one by one. "Sora, Mimi, Kari, Yolei, pushup bras. You got em?"

"Ken!" Sora exasperated, unconsciously covering her chest area with her hands.

"Alright. If you don't wanna win." Ken shrugged.

"Well, it's settled then. We get ready for a long fight. Where do we start?" Sora spoke.

"We need to try to recruit digimon to our side of the fight before Cory can get to them." Ken mused.

"Yeah, my mom's gonna be so happy to learn I pulled my first serious bribe. 'Oh yeah son, you're well on your way to being the next Tony Soprano.' I can see it now." Cody spat.

Ken looked at Cody and sighed. "Cody, are you gonna be a problem?" He walked up to him, placing his hand on Cody's shoulder. "Look, I was...tired and frustrated yesterday. I'm sorry if I...I dunno, came off as uncaring." For genuine effect, he went down on one knee to Cody's level. "I care, trust me. I care." Ken scratched the side of his head. "But I'm doing this because I care. I care...too much-" he motioned emphatically with his hands "-to let this kid do what he wants. So I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop him. Got it?"

Slowly, looking slightly stunned, Cody nodded.

"Good. We okay?"

Again, Cody nodded.

"Alright. We're gonna be doing new things in there, and I need to know you're with me."

"I got it." Cody said, smiling again. "Thanks, Ken. I'll do what I have to too. It's just...yesterday it was so...shoot first, ask questions later, I didn't like it."

"I understand, but it won't be the last time you're gonna have a hard choice to make. And I need you to stick with me." Ken pushed himself up. "Okay. The way I see it, we need to get started in two directions. Six of us should try recruiting, the other six should try and find out exactly how many ways this power can be harnessed. We need to get a sense of what Cory can do to increase his reserves, and what we can do do increase ours."

"Split us up, Ken." Tai responded.

"Yeah. The man with the magic stick should lead the charge." Izzy added.

"Alright." Ken looked around at everyone, licking his lips. "Let's go with...Yolei, Tai, Sora, Kari, Mimi, and Joe, you guys should go to the Koromon village on File Island and see if you can't convince them to fight for us. You guys seem pretty good vocationally, so I'll trust you to do a good job convincing them if need be."

"Sounds good!" Tai responded.

"Wait..." Joe said slowly. "Are you tryin to say something?" He pointed at everyone in his group. "I'm not feminine! I'm not even paranoid anymore! In fact, you weren't even around when I was!"

Tai stepped on his foot. "Shut up!" He hissed.

"What? Tai, he's putting us with the-" he pointed back at the girls. "the...oh." He looked back at Ken, shaking his head. "Nevermind."

"Joe's got a point." Sora said. "Did gender play any role in this? Ken, be honest."

Ken shrugged. "This is all about convincing digimon to pick us over him...I just think a woman's touch would help. I mean, if you don't want to wear the pushup bra, I don't care, I just think-"

"It's okay. I gotcha." Sora said, giggling.

"Everyone else, come with me. We're going hunting for...anything that might be useful." Izzy opened up his laptop. "Everyone stay in touch, and don't hesitate to ask for help. Remember, together we stand, divided we fall."

Everyone nodded as one.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Alright. We've got three cards to play." Yolei said, talking to the rest of the group, as they were standing just outside the Koromon village. "We've got the 'we're on the side of good' argument. That should come first, since it's a good initial hook. I want Tai, Mimi, Joe, Kari and Sora telling stories about four years ago, I want everyone turning on the charm, I want bright, clean colors, I want everyone toning down on the language. I want us to be like The Beatles, and Cory to be like the Rolling Stones. I want to look like angels out there."

"Sounds good to me." Mimi said.

"If that doesn't go through. We've can go with 'we're going to win' side. For that, we need the digimon to strut their stuff." She motioned at the half-dozen assembled partners.

Gatomon was exaggeratingly huffing and puffing her chest in and out. "Consider it done."

"We need to be assertive and confident, make it sound like we're really sure we're gonna beat Cory. I want other old stories told, except from a different angle. I want you guys talking about how powerful the evil digimon you fought were and the odds you overcame. I want details, it's gotta be emphatic. And feel free to be a little threatening and menacing. We want to imply 'If you're not with us, you're against us. And if you're against us, something bad is gonna happen to you.'"

"On it." Tai said, cracking his neck.

"And then." She took a deep breath. "If, if those two don't pan out with some of these guys...we whip out the bribes. We discuss certain...upgrades we can offer, we can talk money, power, whatever tickles their fancy. The sky's the limit when we've got Ken, so don't worry about overdoing it. We're salesmen and saleswomen, so act like it."

"Alright." Sora said. "Let's get pitching."

"Well...let's not forget the 'join us or die' option." Tai added hesitantly.

"Tai!" Kari exclaimed. "We're trying to distance ourselves from Cory, not get closer!" 

"Hey." He shrugged. "I'm just saying. It's like Gennai said, you gotta do-"

"-what you gotta do." Everyone chorused.

"We get it." Joe said. "But we don't gotta do this. At least not yet."

"Alright. I'm just saying." Tai repeated.

"Let's get this show on the road." The six humans and six digimon marched into the town. As expected, half the digidestined purposefully walking through the village drew quite a bit of attention. Koromon bouncing through the town saw the group, and began to follow. Some emerged from structures set up all over the town to follow.

"They look hungry for some direction." Kari muttered.

"You don't suppose Cory already got here, do you?" Tai mused.

"We've gotta hope." Sora replied. "It's all we got."

"Right." Joe said. After a few more moments of walking, they were just a few steps away from the edge of the town. The group, almost as one, spun around to face a large collection of Koromon laid out on the dirt, facing them, awaiting whatever was coming to come.

Kari stepped forward just about two feet, took a deep breath, and then began her pre-scripted introduction.

"Koromon." She bit her lower lip. "This world has been placed in grave peril."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"What are we even looking for?" Davis whined as the he, Matt, Ken, Cody, Izzy, and TK cut through an overgrown jungle.

"We're looking for something to look for." Ken replied, slicing through a clump of vines with a beam of light from his rod. "Basically."

"Oh come on!" Davis moaned, following Ken through the gaps in the foilage. "Could you at least give us an idea? Throw us a bone? How are we going to find something we don't even know we're looking for?"

"I don't even know what we're looking for." Ken responded. "Anything that might help...where I can find the 'black market' Izzy mentioned, where I might be able to find the Emperor, where I could find a large storage of power I could use...whatever it is the Emperor is doing, or planning to do...something like that."

"That doesn't even begin to give us an idea of where to look." Cody couldn't help but add to Davis's complaint. "I'm sorry Ken, but this world is huge. We need...something."

"Yeah, especially given that even if we find what we're looking for we won't even know it." Matt said, picking through ferns. "We could be looking at it right now for all we know."

"Hey, if I could do something about it, I would." Ken began, spinning around to look behind him at the five. "But I can't. All we can do is look and hope."

Suddenly, Ken froze. Slowly, he began to raise his rod in his right hand, turning his head left and right. He put his left hand up in the air, then motioned downwards. The other five present digidestined got down on the forest floor.

His eyes wide and alert, Ken continued to look about slowly. Finally, he pointed the orb of the rod out, slightly angling towards the sky, to the northwest.

A single abrasive crack sounded through the air, causing the digidestined and their partners to wince. If it wasn't a gunshot, it sure sounded an awful lot like it.

A flash of metal hit the air right in front of Ken's rod, deflecting off the invisible barrier created from it. Then, a string of white light flew out at great speed from the orb, extending far into the topography. A grunt was heard in the distance, and then the beam whipped back towards Ken, carrying a most unnatural-looking Renamon on it's end.

The Renamon was thrown to the ground before Ken as the rope flew back into his rod. He twirled it in his hand, then pointed it down at the Renamon. It had clearly been tainted by the touch of the Emperor, for instead of a right arm, it bore merely a forearm with a elongated rifle. Ken looked down at the modified digimon. The orb began to glow, and quite suddenly, the weapon was severed from the Renamon and flew up into Ken's waiting left hand.

Left with just a stump of a right arm, it tried to get up, but the orb glowed again and it was sent back down to the ground, half buried under greens.

"Stay." Ken said flatly, as if talking to a dog. Then, he turned his attention to the rifle, throwing it up into the air and using his rod to hold it there, slowly spinning it around so he could get a good look at it in it's entirety.

"I've never seen a digimon use a sniper rifle before." Izzy said quietly as the digidestined got back up from the ground. Now that the action had stopped, the scope on the top and the long, narrow barrel clearly showed what sort of weapon it was.

Finally, Ken looked up. "It's a Barrett M107 Sniper Rifle. Most advanced in the world. It's no digimon weapon, this comes from earth." He threw it to the side. "Most interesting. It seems his...creativity knows no bounds." He looked back down at the Renamon, who seemed unable to move.

"You'd think the Emperor would be smart enough to know you can't send a rookie to do a mega's job." Ken spat. "Even if the rookie is a freak." He bent down so he was just above the Renamon, looking hard into her eyes. "You like guns?"

She didn't respond, nor acknowledge she was being spoken to.

"Betcha couldn't resist when Cory came around and offered you a chance to be what someone like yourself could never be." He sprung back up to a standing position and kicked her hard in the face, sending her across the dirt floor into a nearby tree. "I suppose I can't blame you. A rookie, completely worthless, no hope of ever becoming anything." He walked back up to the Renamon and delivered another brutal kick to her face, kicking up dirt and sending her spinning around the tree.

"Ken, calm down!" TK finally said, at first partially shocked silent by his outburst.

"Let me handle it." Ken said quietly, almost soothingly, holding his palm out to TK. "Now, Renamon, today's your lucky day. I need information, so if you can tell me something worth knowing, I can send you on your way. Hell, I'll even give you an arm back!"

Suddenly, the Renamon was able to move again. She rolled over onto her back and jumped up. Ken kept the rod pointed at her.

"Worth knowing?" She choked out, pushing her back up against the tree she had just crashed into.

"Yes. Worth knowing." Ken repeated.

"How am I supposed to know what's worth knowing to you?" She managed to get out, clutching her chest.

Ken rolled his eyes, almost looking as if he was having fun with this interrogation. "Fine. Let's try this another way." He cleared his throat. "Where can I find the Emperor?"

"I dunno, I'm a grunt! You think I'd know this kind of stuff?!" The Renamon said, regaining some of her composure.

Ken sighed. "That's a shame." He twirled the rod again, a small orb of light flowing from the rod to his left hand. The orb took the form of a large silver revolver, glistening in the sun in Ken's hand. He casually flipped it over to his right hand, slipped the rod into a holder in his belt, and pointed it at the Renamon. He fired, an ear-piercing shot ringing through the forest, the recoil nearly sending the revolver pointing straight up into the sky.

The .50 calibur bullet blew the stump of the Renamon's right arm off, leaving a bleeding mess. The Renamon groaned, grabbed at the new wound, and fell over.

"I said I don't know!" She managed to screech, rolling over in pain.

"If you don't know, then you're useless. And there are few things that anger me more than a useless digimon." Ken said smoothly. "Now, maybe you can tell me what the Emperor has been doing lately?"

"I told you, he doesn't tell grunts-AHH!" Ken fired again, a shot of immense power blowing the Renamon's right arm clean off, creating an even bigger mess on the ground around them. The other five digidestined all felt like they should say something, but found themselves unable to say anything. Only watch in amazement.

"What, you want me to lie?!" She screamed, rolling back and forth, now without any arms at all.

"Nah." Ken snickered. "If you lied, I woulda shot you someplace else. Now, maybe you can tell me what the Emperor is doing right now?"

"He doesn't-AGH!" This time, Ken shot her left leg off. Izzy keeled over and threw up on the ground. Cody went pale white. It was like a trainwreck, nobody could stop watching, nor stop it from happening.

"How about what he's planning to do in the future?" Ken asked, leveling the gun at her right leg and final appendage.

"I told you, I-UGH!" She was pushed across the dirt slightly by the force of the bullet blowing her right leg off. Now she was nothing more than a torso and head, losing blood fast.

"Now, you're gonna die of blood loss real soon here, so you'd better hope you can answer one of my next two questions." He leveled the gun at her chest. "Would you happen to be aware of a way I could acquire a large amount of power? One that doesn't involve mass genocide of digimon?"

"You said it yourself!" She managed to say in a whisper, every breath or attempt to move forcing more blood out. "I'm a nobody, I don't know any of this!"

"That's a damn shame." Ken said menacingly, pulling the hammer of the revolver back.

Suddenly, TK grabbed Ken's gun arm and pointed it up into the sky. Ken looked over at TK, who was sternly looking back at him. "Stop! She doesn't know anything, this is...this is wrong!"

Ken punched across his body into TK's stomach, causing him to keel over. He then pushed him back into the brush, leveling the gun back at the Renamon. "I'll be the judge of that." He said quietly to TK before firing.

The bullet erupted into her chest, spilling fresh blood. The Renamon's head fell back and her body lay still, seemingly dead. But then, Ken walked up to what was left of her and kicked her in the head. She was suddenly alive again, moving back and forth on the ground.

"Stop playing stupid. Your heart's on the right, I shot you in the left." Ken said, pointing the gun at the right side of her chest. "I've only got one bullet left, and there's only one place it's interested in making it's home. Answer me this question and I'll send you on your way, with brand spanking new limbs, so listen closely."

TK pushed himself back up, watching the extremely irregular scene of Ken standing over a half-dead Renamon, holding an oversized revolver, and looking far too evil.

"How might I go about locating the Digital World's Black Market?" Ken asked slowly.

The Renamon's eyes widened. "I-I know that! I've been there!" She said, blood continuing to pump out of her body with every word.

"Good. Care to share?" Ken asked, lowering the weapon.

"The sewers on File Island...go directly below the monolith in the middle of the forest and call out for a RedVeggiemon. He'll take you." She replied. "Now give me my limbs back!"

"That's a good girl." Ken said slowly. And then, without warning, he pulled the hammer back and fired into her heart. She gasped a few times as more blood oozed out of her, and then fell back to the ground, dead. "Very good girl." Ken said quietly, as he dissolved the revolver back into power, which went back into his rod.

"She lieing?" Izzy asked, still on his knees from his bout of sickness, a pool of vomit at his knees.

"Nah. She was telling the truth." Ken said, absorbing the body parts into his rod. "At least she thinks she was."

"Then why?!" TK demanded, running up to Ken and taking a stance right in front of him. "Why kill her when she just gave us all the help she should give?"

Ken's eyes went over to the left, looking off into the distance for a second before coming back to TK. "One, because she tried to kill us, and I don't take kindly to people who try to kill me. Two, she only helped us because she was in incredible pain, not because of a change of heart, so she's still a digimon who's willing to sell out to the highest bidder. Third, because she has no honor, showcased by her willingness to give us information that could prove detrimental to the man she agreed to work for, and who gave her more power than she could ever dream of otherwise, all because she couldn't handle a little pain and the thought of her death. All things considered, I wish I could have given her something worse than death."

"But you agreed to let her go if she told you something useful." TK said through gritted teeth. "You talk about honor-" 

"What do you care?" Ken asked, turning around and walking back towards the rest of the group. "She was a lowlife Renamon who sold out to the powers of darkness. Are you saying she didn't deserve what she got?"

"Yeah, we should never give anyone second chances." Cody said dryly.

Ken froze midstep, slowly turning his head to look over at Cody. He opened his mouth to say something, but it never got out. He closed his mouth as suddenly as he had opened it, gave a slight snicker, and continued walking.

"Maybe we should...I dunno, go home for the day?" Davis suggested. "Y'know, come back in the morning fresh? Sleep and relaxation could do us some good. The black market isn't going anywhere..."

"I agree." Matt said, watching Ken walk away, catching the hint. They needed to put out the fire building between Ken and everyone else. Even if that meant giving up the rest of the day, it was important that Ken was given time to gather himself and apologize to the group.

"If that's the consensus." Ken said loudly, suddenly stopping. "Anyone got the time?"

Izzy checked his watch. "Five-Thirty. We've been wandering around in this forest for four and a half hours, how did the time ever get away from us like that..."

Ken pulled out a walkie-talkie from his jacket, pulling it up to his face. "How'd the pitch go?"

Kari's voice crackled through. "I think we scared them a bit, but we've recruited them to our side. They should be willing to fight for us."

"How's the cost-to-benefit ratio?"

"Pretty much the works...a good eighty percent bought into the 'we're good and they're evil' stuff. Couple held out until we offered the bennies, but I'd estimate it to be about a dozen, nothing we can't handle."

"Excellent. So that's the Koromon village, the ShogunGekomon Castle, and the Biyomon town. We've got a lead, but everyone else wants to go home, so go ahead and leave whenever." He put the electronic device back into his belt. "Let's go then." He walked up to Izzy as he activated his computer.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Kenny boy's mad." Cory mused, pacing around the twelve-foot long capsule inside the large, otherwise completely dark and bland room. "Oh, he's mad. You should have seen him work the Renamon."

"Why'd you bother sending a rookie?" A voice from inside the capsule spoke. "Waste of time and resources."

Cory shrugged. "Worth a shot. And it came close to working. But that's not the problem. The problem is, Ken's the only one who's angry."

"Jeez, you blew up an entire town, you'd think that'd mean something." Said the voice from the capsule again.

"Exactly. If they're not angry, they'll never go after me with everything they got. And if they don't go after me with everything they've got, I'm just wasting my time."

"Got any ideas?" Came the voice.

"Sure." He reached inside his coat and pulled out a wooden brown box about eight inches tall, a foot long, and perhaps two inches thick with a gold clasp holding it closed. He flicked it open and pulled the cover back, revealing a golden revolver. "If this doesn't work, nothing will."

"Perhaps you've forgotten. We need them alive. All of them."

"True. But I heavily suspect this gambit will lure _him_ out of hiding. As such, we're killing two birds with one stone. It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Very well. What's the timeline on Ken?"

"All I have are guesses based on my understanding on how his mind works. I believe the event to transpire exactly two weeks from today should be the clincher."

"Very good." Came the voice.

"Yes. Very good indeed." Cory repeated.


	5. The Black Market

Chapter 5: The Black Market

"I'm just saying, y'know." TK said. "It was really...weird, seeing you do that. We didn't like it at all." He tapped his fingers sharply on the felt table.

Everyone sitting at the circular table turned their attention to Matt, peeking down at the pair of cards face down in front of him, just flipping the tops of the two up so only he could see. "It's nice that you're willing to do the dirty work, but you went too far. You crossed the line. As digidestined, we've got a certain standard to keep up to. An interrogation is one thing, but that was plain...sadistic." He tapped the felt sharply as well, passing the play onto Izzy.

"I mean, like, when Jack Bauer interrogates someone it's nothing like that. You get the sense that he's a good guy doing whatever it takes to save his country. There's a fine line." He tapped the felt as well.

"It was...scary, basically. I know you've said many times you're past it, and I believe you, but...I saw a part of the emperor yesterday." Cody concurred, thinking for a moment before tapping the table.

"Alright, alright, I get it." Ken peered down at his pair of cards, then at the five faceup in the middle of the table. "Maybe I lost control there, but...that's partially what I was shooting for. Giving the impression of insanity, I have no doubt it loosened the tongue of that Renamon." He tapped the table as well. "But, if you guys have such a problem with it...I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I'll be more careful from now on. Sorry if I offended anyone."

"You mean it this time?" Cory said quietly.

"Hey, give me a break, alright?" Ken shot back. "I'm can't change the past, so I'm doing what I can to make amends."

"Let's put it behind us." Davis said. "Alright, everybody show what you got."

TK threw down a ten of spades and ace of hearts. "Pair of tens, ace kicker, plus the pair of sixes on the table." He recited.

Matt glanced over to his right at the wall, then pointed at Izzy. "Keep it moving." He mumbled.

"If you don't have anything, why do you keep checking?" TK said, looking at Matt with a raised eyebrow. "When you've got nothing, you either fold or raise, you're wasting money."

"Don't tell me how to play." Matt retorted. "I know what I'm doing."

"Obviously not." TK snickered.

"Izzy?" Davis asked.

"Well, looks like I've got three pair here-" he began.

"Izzy, it's a five card game, you can't have three pair." Ken said, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head.

"Then why are there seven cards?" Izzy dared to ask.

TK rubbed his forehead. "So you can pick three cards from the table to combine with your two hole cards. Do you even know how to play Texas Holdem?"

"Sorry, sorry...so I've got the two pair, sixes and queens." Izzy said quickly, showcasing the two queens in his hand.

"I was hoping a nine would come on the river...nothing." Cody said, pointing over to Ken.

Ken gave a slanted smile as he flipped his two cards face up. A six of hearts and four of diamonds. "Full house." He nodded. "C'mon, let's see some." He tapped the felt right in front of him.

Davis pushed the pot of chips over to Ken, who nodded in satisfaction.

"I don't get these card games." Veemon finally said from the corner. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense. What's a spade or diamond supposed to mean? And what makes Ken's hand better than everyone elses?"

"Maybe I'll tell you one day." Davis replied. He then pointed to the bed, where Kari, Yolei, Tai, Joe, and Mimi sat. "Anyone wanna buy in?"

The five digidestined shook their heads, giving various explanations for their disinterest.

"I'd love to, I love poker, but..." Joe began as he reached into his back pants' pocket. He pulled out a black and brown wallet, a chain trailing from it's corner back to his pocket. He unzipped it and looked inside. "...yep, cleaned out."

Ken was starring at Joe, wearing a light smile. "What the hell is that thing?" He asked, pointing at the chain.

Joe looked down at the grey metal rope extending from his backside to the wallet. "It's a chain." He said, an unspoken 'duh' hanging after his sentence.

"Get rid of it." Ken said flatly.

"Why?"

Ken began to stack his chips. "Because you look retarded." He snickered.

"It's not about looks! It's a security thing, this town is full of sticky-fingered thugs who's hands are constantly feeling around in other people's pockets-"

"Nobody wants to steal your bus pass." Ken interrupted. "Gimme a break."

Joe shrugged and put the wallet back in his pocket.

"Where's Sora? When she gets here we can go." Tai wondered out loud.

"Driver's License test I think." Kari said. "She'll be here soon I'm sure."

"How is a Driver's License more important than saving the world?" Yolei said under her breath.

"You'll understand when you get around driving age." Tai answered. "It's the most important thing in the world in the mid-to-late teens. Trust me."

And then, the bedroom door blew open. Sora burst through the doorway, breathing heavily. "S-sorry. Some druggie was causing problems at the testing center."

"You pass?" Matt asked.

"Yeah." She panted.

"Nice. Now let's go." Matt pointed at the computer. Ken stepped up to the screen along with Izzy.

"Destination: File Island Sewers." Ken announced.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The gaping hole into the sewer system stood before them, embedded deep into a grassy hill, tilting downwards into the earth. Moss clung to the floor, walls, and ceiling of the concrete tube. Water dripped down it, dripping into a much larger river of dirty fluid. The surrounding area was more forest, having been long vacated by digimon due to the smell, as such the grass was overgrown up to the digidestined's waists. Tall, thick trees populated the area, blocking out the sun and restricting the distance in which they could see in any direction.

"Why does it have to be a sewer?" Mimi said to herself.

"It is a black market." Izzy said. "I mean, I wouldn't exactly expect to find it in the Primary Village or anything."

"Alright, let's go." Ken said, pulling out his rod. "Be careful, I'm sure I don't need to tell you what a black market implies." He marched forward, down the tube into the actual system of sewers. One by one, everyone followed.

"Where's the monolith?" Matt asked from near the front.

"Don't worry about it, I know where we're going." Ken responded.

Izzy ran his hand across the sewer wall, knocking moss off into the stream at their feet. "If this really is the entrance to the Black Market, they do a hell of a job hiding it. I'd bet alot of things nobody's been through here for years."

"They do hide it quite well." Ken agreed. "You'd never guess it."

The narrow hallway turned into a sidewalk of sorts, concrete walkways on either side of a river. They proceeded down it, eyeing the river. Every now and then, an air bubble or splash would come up to the surface, though nothing ever directly disturbed them.

"Man it smells terrible down here." TK commented. "I guess if you want to get into the Black Market you need to really want it."

"I don't know much about it." Izzy started. "But the name 'black market' is pretty revealing. You can buy severed digimon parts, buy all kinds of information, and hire mercenary digimon. That sort of thing. And of course, anything goes, so pretty much everything ranges from barely legal to flat out illegal."

"Do you have anything specific you're looking for?" Kari asked Ken.

"Well...if we can dig up some information on the Emperor, that'd be fantastic. Barring that, maybe we could see if we can't hire some mercs, and I guess we should have a look at the hardware-"

"There you go again!" Cody hissed from the back.

"Oh, gimme a break, give me a break..." Ken moaned, grabbing his forehead.

"Kid's got a point." Matt spoke from the middle of the pack. "I mean, we've gotta do some questionable things, but do we really need to be funding shady digimon and purchasing questionable items? I mean, I know it's for a good cause, but we shouldn't dip so far into the side of evil."

Ken sighed, then turned around to face the group. "Good point, Mister Richard James."

Matt went a scarlett red, his hands curling into fists.

"Or is it Mister Randolph Patterson?" Ken continued.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Matt hissed. "C'mon, let's...keep going." He put his fists in his pocket and pushed into Joe, causing the line to continue moving.

"Matt, what's that all about?" TK dared to ask.

"Shut up!" Matt repeated, his jaw clenched.

TK looked up at Ken, who was walking backwards to keep an eye on the scene behind him. Ken caught his glance. He put his left hand out, his thumb sticking straight up at the ceiling. He put out his right hand, his thumb and forefinger grasping his left hand thumb. He pulled back on the thumb, making a popping noise with his mouth. He then raised his left hand up to his face, leaning back and putting the tip of his thumb into his mouth, making a chugging noise with his throat.

"Do you wanna die?" Matt spat up towards Ken, flashing an obscene hand gesture up towards the front of the line.

"You rock stars are strange people." Ken said lightly before turning back around and continuing.

The dozen walked on for several minutes, passing through the disgusting and bland system of tunnels. Izzy seemed to turn green with every further step he took, and everyone else was far from comfortable as well.

"Ken, could we get some...I dunno, air freshener in here?" Davis finally asked.

Ken looked up at the ceiling. "That has got to be the biggest waste of power that has ever crossed my mind. You think this stuff grows on trees?" He pointed down at his rod.

"C'mon, man, we're dying!" Davis whined. "It can't take much! Please?"

Ken rubbed his eyes hard. "Fine...but if I run out of power in the middle of a fight with MetalSeaDramon or something, I swear I'll come back from the grave to put my foot up your-"

And then, the orb from his belt glowed a violent red, a small beam of light emerging from the top of it and going straight up into the roof of the sewers.

"Hold it." Ken said, holding his hand out. "We're under the monolith."

Everyone froze, looking up at where the light hit the ceiling.

"Alright, now what?" Mimi asked.

"Hello?" Ken called out. "RedVeggiemon? Hello?"

The wall to the left of the group slid open just about eight inches. A red blob with a mouth and eyes and two spiked bludgeons for arms waddled out. The wall quickly shut behind him, shutting with enough force to create a small vibration.

"To what do we owe the honor?" The RedVeggiemon asked, eyeballing Ken up and down. "If you're here to try to shut us down, there's gonna be an entry fee."

Ken grinned down at the particularly dirty and stench-riden RedVeggiemon. "Not today, friend. We're here to browse the wares."

"Huh?" RedVeggiemon raised his eyebrow. "Aren't you all the digidestined?"

"Yeah. Look, it's a long story. We've had to make some adjustments to our usual modus operandi. Now are you gonna let us in, or do I have to grease the wheels?"

"Nah, I'm not allowed to take tips. If someone found out it'd be my ass on a barby. We don't judge down here in the black market, anyone with money is allowed in."

"Nice to know some people can't be bought out by the emperor." Ken replied as the RedVeggiemon waddled towards the edge of the walkway.

The RedVeggiemon sneered. "Nobody can buy out the black market. Though the Emperor comes around here alot."

"Just as I hoped." Ken said. He watched the RedVeggiemon reached over the edge into the water with his right tentacle, feeling around in the murky river. "I hope you're paid well for this."

"Never well enough." A second later, his dripping-wet appendage emerged. "Alright. What you wanna do..." a second later, a bright red ring appeared in the middle of the river "...is jump into that ring. Don't worry, you won't get wet, the water there is an illusion. You'll slide down for a bit and come out in a small concrete room. Knock on the wall opposite the slide three times, and it'll slide down. Enjoy."

Ken looked behind him at the group, winked, and walked up to the edge of the concrete as Wormmon jumped up into his arms. He pushed off the edge hard, leaping into the air over the sewer water. His feet neatly landed into the ring, and as advertised, fell through without creating a splash. His body disappeared without disturbing the water. Or rather, the illusion of water.

"Little trusting, isn't he?" Izzy muttered as he stepped up to the edge as well.

"What, you don't believe me?" The RedVeggiemon whined. "Jeez, I'm trying my best here."

"No, you did fine...it's just a shady business." Izzy jumped off the edge and into the ring as Tentomon clinged onto his shoulders.

"Alright, wait four seconds, then the next can go." The RedVeggiemon instructed.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sora slid down the tube with Biyomon last, emerging from the darkness out into the concrete room. With all twelve digidestined and their partners, the chamber had become quite crowded. There wasn't a light source except for the tiny bit that came down through the short tube, so it may as well have been pitch black, causing for some jostling and bumping among the two dozen.

"Alright." Ken walked up to the wall opposite the tube and put his first up in the air at head level. Slowly, almost like the leg of a grandfather clock, he knocked back and forth on the concrete three times.

Sure enough, the wall began to slide downwards into the earth, light filtering through the developing crack near the ceiling. Slowly, the world outside the concrete box was revealed to the digidestined as the wall disappeared into it's slot in the ground.

It was a well-constructed cave, any stalagmites and stalagtites having been dealt with by nature or digimon. It was a square-shaped tunnel, perhaps fifty feet in diameter, seemingly extending into eternity. Every couple hundred feet, a large door was embedded into the rock. This pattern held true for both sides of the cave. On the ceiling, powerful lights beamed on the cave, providing an adequate substitute for the sun.

"I was half expecting the Morlocks." Izzy said quietly as he walked out of the concrete room.

"I was _hoping_ for the Morlocks." Ken exclaimed. "Not very active, is it?"

"Well, it's not exactly the marketplace at Agrabah." Kari said as she, along with everyone else, began to proceed down the tunnel. "Now what?"

"Let's have a look at what they've got." Ken said quietly, making a beeline for the first door on his left. Everyone followed, wary of what could be lurking behind any of any of the doors.

"Be careful." Yolei said as Ken rapidly approached the door, his hand out for the knob. The door was a light brown, the knob lever-style and silver.

"Don't worry. I know where we are and what to expect." He stopped in front of the door and pushed his hand down on the lever. It gave, and he pushed it inwards. After it got about six inches open, he stuck his head through the crack.

"DAH!" He immediately pulled his head back, slamming the door closed violently. He spun around and began running away from the door. "AHHH!" He rubbed his eyes viciously, wildly running through his fellow digidestined without restraint, forcing them to wildly jump out of his path. "AHHHH!"

"Ken, what's wrong?!" TK yelled at his backside.

He tripped, falling face first onto the floor, still holding his eyes and screaming. He curled up into a fetal position, beginning to shake quickly.

The door slowly swung open a few inches, and a Meramon stuck his head out. "What?" He said sharply.

"What's going on in there?" Tai asked, afraid to look for himself.

"All your deepest fantasy, come true in one hour." The Meramon spoke listlessly, as if a robot. "Foursome, role-play, cross-species, you name it, we offer it." He pulled his head back into the room, then emerged a second later with a laminated piece of paper. He presented it to Tai. "May I interest you in a package deal?"

Tai took it delicately, then flipped it over to the side that featured pictures and writing. He quickly regretted it, throwing it back at the Meramon. "AHHH!" He turned around, running off in a similar fashion to Ken just a moment ago. "AHHH!"

"God, it's a digi-smut hut!" Izzy finally exclaimed.

"Couldn't you have figured that out before our magic man and leader got...incapacitated?" Davis gestured at Ken, still rocking back and forth on the ground in the fetal position, mumbling incoherantly. Tai had fallen over and was pounding his forehead into the ground.

"Thank you, no, no!" TK yelled to the Meramon, trying to close the door. "Peddle your perversions to somebody else!" He managed to get it shut as the Meramon slipped back in.

Kari was kneeling next to Tai, who was now lying on his stomach, rubbing the top of his head. "I think he's alright..." she said slowly.

"Not if he saw what I'm imagining he saw." Matt said, looking down at the two pathetic figures on the ground. "I dunno, I'm thinking a...Guilmon riding a Mamemon with a Pixiemon riding the back-"

"AHHHH!" Ken started screaming again, rolling back and forth on the floor.

Yolei sighed. "This could take awhile."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"You gonna be alright?" Izzy asked Ken as he sat cross legged on the floor, rocking back and forth.

"I guess. But god damn they need a warning sign. Or put it in the back or something." He shuddered. "I mean, what the-"

"Okay, this door isn't any good either." TK reported, running back to the group as they continued trying to comfort Ken and Tai, pointing at the first door on the right side of the cave.

"What is it?" Cody asked warily.

TK put his thumb and forefinger of his right hand together, then put them up to his lips and took a long, exaggerated puff, tilting his head back.

"Ah." Sora said, nodding.

Matt looked around slowly at everyone else, then slowly started to move towards the door TK had come from.

"Matt!" Sora hissed in his direction. He stopped midstep, quickly rewinding his paces back to where he was to start.

"C'mon, let's check out some of the others." Joe finally said.

"Some of us aren't ready!" Tai said in a singsong voice, still in his fetal position on the ground. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H-"

"Suck it up!" Kari said, following Joe along with everyone else sans Tai.

Tai blinked a few times, then slowly unrolled himself and pushed himself up. He hurriedly ran up to the rest of the group.

"You got told off by your sister." Davis said quietly, supressing a laugh.

"Shut up." Tai growled.

A moment later, Ken stood before the 2nd door on the left side, preparing himself to open it. This door was black, with a golden handle, again lever style.

"Okay, okay, I'm good. I can do this." He said, more to himself than anyone else. And then, he plunged his hand down on the lever and pushed it open.

To the great relief of everyone, this looked like an ordinary shop. There was a glass desk in the left corner, behind which sat an Apemon. Inside the desk, various strange objects could be seen. Shelves lined the walls, holding several items, from Gatomon tail rings to Gargomon machine guns.

"Oh yeah, baby, now we are talking!" Ken said, dramatic emphasis on each word as he slid into the shop.

"Can I help you?" The Apemon growled.

"Possibly." Ken said, his voice suddenly going very silky and smooth. "Mister Apemon, you're looking at the digidestined." He stepped to the side as the other eleven of his cohorts stepped in slowly and nervously. "Now, we're looking to take down a certain Digimon Emperor." He looked up at the ceiling and licked his lips. "What can you offer me?"

"Well, just about everything you see." He motioned around with his hands. "We've got...Tankmon missiles and launchers, the laser from a Centarumon's arm, a Deputymon's revolvers set...oh I know-" He reached below the desk and brought up a small figurine of a Dokugumon. "-voodoo. Very nice. You squeeze it on the top of the head, fires a very powerful and strong poison thread. Squeeze it harder, and-"

Ken raised his right index finger and shook it. "Nah nah." He reached into his belt and whipped out his magic rod. "You see this?"

"Yeah." The apemon growled. "You tryin to say I'm stupid? Course I can see it-"

"Anything you've got on display in this shop, I can create with a flick of my wrist. I need you to show me something...special, something truly useful, or I'm just wasting my time."

The Apemon looked around. "If that rod can do...what you say...what the hell are you doing here?"

"Power don't grow on trees." Ken said. His eyes scanned the room quickly again. "Or does it?"

"Alright, alright. But I need to see some money first." The Apemon insisted, folding his arms over his chest.

"And what makes you so sure I'm buying what you're selling?" Ken asked.

The Apemon merely pointed down at the desk in front of him.

Ken shook the rod quickly, and two wads of american hundred dollar bills popped up on the desk where the Apemon pointed.

"Thank you." The Apemon turned around, walked up to the shelf behind him, and reached up to the top shelf for a wooden square box about a foot long. He brought it down, then tapped the top twice. A number pad appeared on the top. He typed in a very long sequence of numbers, that took at least twenty seconds to put in, before it popped open. Laying inside the box, among some rolled up pieces of paper, was a very familiar looking crystal.

Ken's eyes popped open. "Now that, my friend, qualifies as special. Please describe the method in which you acquired this piece."

"Not part of the deal." He replied gruffly.

Ken shook his rod, causing a golden armband with twenty encrusted diamonds to appear on the desk.

"It's a...it's a customer privacy thing, I promise everyone who comes here their exchanges are never shared with anyone else-"

Ken waved his rod again, creating a massive, seven layer, white and pink cake to appear in the middle of the shop. The digidestined quickly moved to the edges of the room to avoid being squashed.

"Um...I really shouldn't, stealing straight from the Emperor's stash is dangerous enough as it is, talking about it to customers could really get me...and somebody else, in alot of trouble."

Ken waved it again, and the top of the cake popped off, and a female Apemon emerged from it.

"I like the way you think, but...I have...issues down there..." he pointed downwards.

Ken waved his rod again, and the Apemon's eyes popped open. He glanced down, a smile finally crossing his face.

"Holy...I'm back in the game!" He grinned. "Alright. Here's the scoop. The Emperor has several dozen very well hidden drills all over the world, and he uses them to dig for power he uses to convert to his crystals. They get transported from all over the world to here, where they get put on trucks and get driven to the temple, then they get loaded onto a train and taken to the docks. Then, they get put on planes and get flown to the land of the ice and snow in Server. Somewhere in that series of handoffs and trips, they get dropped off at his secret base. Or at least, that's what happened _this_ time, it probably changes every time. He's got a couple of people in places working for him, making it all possible."

"Interesting. Very hard to keep track of anything." Ken rubbed his chin. "And you got this how?" He gestured at the crystal.

"Well, I've got some friends in places as well. It wasn't too hard to pick one out of the transports during exchanges. I know they're quite powerful, and worth alot, but I can't find a buyer."

"Well you just found one." Ken said, grabbing the box that held the crystal. "And if you've got more, I'll take em all. Name your price."

"I've got five more in the back, but I better see half a mil on this desk when I get back." He turned around, walked back up to the shelf, slammed his palm on a book, and the shelf right beside it disappeared into the ground. He strolled into the newly exposed chamber.

"C'mon, Ken, haggle with him. That's the fun of buying big ticket items!" Mimi said from behind the cake.

"Hold on...I've got an idea." Ken said. "Besides, he could charge a million bucks a piece and it'd still be profit to us.

A minute later, the Apemon emerged with five crystals. Ken, sure enough, had a new heap of money on the desk. "Hey buddy, you keep copping crystals every chance you get, and I'll keep buying them."

"Sure thing. It's a hell of a risk, but nobody lives forever." The Apemon responded, giving Ken the five crystals.

Ken promptly absorbed the half-dozen crystals into his rod, feeling incredible energy and power running through it. "They are powerful." He enthused. "It's...it's incredible." Then his face fell. "But...this whole digging operation...the Emperor must have countless crystals already."

"Not as many as he used to." The Apemon winked.

"Yeah, alright. If that's all you got, we'll see you around. Keep copping them crystals." Ken smiled weakly. "Let's get out of here, check out some of the other shops."

"Alright." Tai turned around and opened the door, slipping through the threshhold.

And then, a loud crack sounded in the air, followed seconds later by Tai falling back into the shop. A dribble of blood dripped from the center of his forehead.

Nobody wanted to see it, so reactions were slow. Eventually, however, gasps and mortified looks overtook everyone in the room. The dribble of blood tracked down his head, into his hair.

"Holy-" Ken muttered, running around the cake, pushing through his friends, and jumping over Tai's body to get outside.

Sure enough, Cory was standing to the right of the shop, holding a golden, slightly smoking revolver, pointed at the doorway.

"He was long overdue for retirement." Cory said icily. "I suppose this makes you the unquestioned leader now.

"You...you-" Ken started.

"I've upped the ante, kid. To hell with honor, to hell with fair fights, and to hell with digimon. What, you honestly thought you'd be immune just because?"

"How could you...in cold blood-"

"Why don't you go home and come back when you're ready? This is my world now, so we're playing with my rules."

Everyone else piled out of the shop, starring unbelievely at Cory.

Kari's fists clenched, her jaw clamping. "You...bastard." She hissed.

"Consider this a lesson. You got sloppy and paid for it. Now, I'm going to leave before the next phase kicks in and I get wet, but any one of you could be next when I get an open shot."

And then, in a flash, he was gone.

A few moments of silence went by, as slow as a world champion's game of chess. Then, the digidestined began to break down, well up, and cry over their lost leader.


	6. Adeel Achmed

Chapter Six: Adeel Achmed

Some people have been asking me if there's going to be any romance or couples in this fic...I'll go ahead and say now I haven't planned things out to that degree, I'm more of a fan of just letting things happen as they happen.

But since couples are popular here on fanfiction, and I don't want to surprise people, I'll go ahead and say a few things. I'm a pretty big Takari fan, so that's likely to sneak in. Inbetween Taiora and Sorato, I lean to Taiora more, so it's possible that could pop up. I don't particularly care either way, but I don't mind Mimato, so that's another possibility. I have an extreme dislike for KenXYolei, so you won't be seeing any of that. You might see Ken hook up with a new character I introduce into the story at some point.

That's about it for couples that I'm aware are used often on However, if you have a request, please leave it in a review. If I'm...alright with the idea of the coupling, I'll go ahead and put it in the fic. I know this is unusual, but I wasn't planning on using any couples at all. So I'd like to get some suggestions from my loyal readers as to which direction to move. I'm quite flexible, so go ahead and knock yourself out.

And thanks to everyone reading my fic. If anyone's interested, you can contact me personally through the stuff in my profile. I'm interested in meeting anyone who likes my fics.

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"I shoulda gone first." Ken said, sitting on the ground crosslegged, looking away from Tai's body, shaking. "What was I thinking? I mean, I'm the leader now, I've got the magic stick...jeez I'm stupid." He put his head in his hands. "Jeez."

"D-don't blame yourself." Matt said hurriedly, crouching down over Tai. "I mean, any one of us could have gone first. I'm sure Tai would have...oh jeez." He started tearing up again.

"Wait." Kari said quietly, looking at Ken's back. "That's right! You're the man with the magic stick! Of course!" Her face lit up as she ran over to Ken. She kneeled down over him. "You can bring him back...can't you? C'mon, wave the stick! Bring him back!"

Ken shook his head, not turning to look at her. "If I thought I could, I would...I'd give anything to, trust me. But to bring people back from the dead is beyond me. I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly! You can anything! C'mon, wave the stick! Please?" She said, her voice getting higher and higher.

"I'd sacrifice this stick if it meant bringing Tai back, but it's not happening." He repeated.

Then, quite suddenly, a crushing blow hit Ken full force in the back of the head. He was thrown forward and quickly rolled over, only to have Kari pick him up by the collar via strength usually not found within her and slam him against the cave wall.

"You selfish bastard, do it!" She hissed, her eyes glowing a vibrant scarlett. "Do it! I know you can, you just don't want to! Bring him back!"

"Kari, I can't! Okay, I can't! I'd love to, but it just can't be done!" Ken insisted, fighting the urge to respond to her violently.

Matt and Izzy came up behind her and managed to claw her off Ken, pulling her back a few feet. She starred at Ken for a few seconds, breathing laboriously and her eyes still fiery.

After a moment, her chest stopped heaving. Humanity came back to her features. "I'm...I'm so sorry, Ken. I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just...just..." she began to break down into tears again.

"It's okay...I understand." Ken said soothingly. Izzy and Matt let her go, letting her drip back to the cave floor.

"Please, Ken. Bring him back. I'll do anything." She said through her tears. "Anything."

Ken sighed, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. "Kari, I'm dead serious, this is well beyond my power, probably even Cory's power. It's just-" He pulled his hand down and gasped when he laid eyes on Kari removing her shirt.

"Please...I'll do anything..." she said, her voice taking on a strange feminine allure. "Anything at all."

"Ah! No, no, no!" Ken said, fumbling for his rod as Kari began to unhook the front part of her bra. "No, this is _not_ okay!" He said quickly, shaking the rod, causing Kari's shirt to suddenly pop back onto her torso.

"Oh, playing hard to get?" She said, layering her voice in sensual tones. She reached up for the collar of her shirt, beginning to rip it apart down the middle with her hands.

"Ah! No, no, do not want!" Ken said, panic lacing his voice, starting to run away from Kari. She gave pursuit, even as her shirt fell away in tatters.

"Huh. I never knew Ken was gay." Davis mused, watching the awkward scene.

TK, standing behind Davis, glowered at the back of his head for a second before smacking it with his open palm. Davis spun around.

"Ow!" His head stopping spinning when it came around to TK. Reflexively, as he rubbed the back of his head, he looked downwards, then froze. "Hey, dude, cover up."

Slowly, TK looked down and went a scarlett red. Slowly, he removed his white hat and lowered it down to his crotch region, covering it. "Dammit." He said under his breath.

Kari was, again, undoing her bra. Ken tripped trying to run away, and rolled over just in time for Kari to savagely jump on top of him. Her bra fell away as her hands began to grab at his pants, trying to pull them off his legs.

"Stop it!" Ken commanded, trying to resist the urge to use his rod to deal with the situation. He tried to gently push her off with his legs, but she had become a vicious sex-driven animal. "God, I need to start wearing a belt." He muttered. "Help!"

Joe ran up to the odd scene and ripped Kari off with great force, nearly taking Ken's pants with him. Kari fought for another second or so, then slumped over in Joe's grip, sobbing bitterly.

Joe let her go to the ground as Ken got up and composed himself.

"What just happened?" Davis asked, watching Kari cry on the ground.

"Well...I think she just went through the Kubler-Ross model in less than a minute. The first four stages anyway."

"What's that?" TK asked.

"It's how people deal with grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, then..." he looked back down at Kari, sobbing on the ground. "...well, acceptance comes later."

"Hopefully." Izzy said, looking down at her sad figure. "We...should leave." He said sadly.

Agumon was looking down at Tai's body, perhaps more sadly than anyone sans Kari. "Now what do I do?" He said in almost a whisper.

"Yeah. Nothing for us here." TK said slowly.

"Don't be so sure." Came a voice from across the cave. Everyone swiveled their heads to look at the source.

Standing right in front of the door opposite them was a new figure. Another teenager, so it seemed. He was of middling height and well-built, with black hair just slightly spiked at the front. A small bit of facial hair covered his chin, forming a goatee. He wore fairly plain clothes, a blue, longsleeve shirt, black pants, and white running shoes.

Ken reached for his rod, ready to cause some fireworks in a hurry. "And what might be here for us?" He said slowly.

"Pardon me. My name is Adeel. Adeel Achmed."

"Well...Mister Achmed. How did you come across this place?" Ken asked, still resting his hand on his rod.

"What, you mean this?" He waved his arms around, slowly beginning to walk towards the group. "I know a Wizardmon who used to be a Merc."

"No, no...I mean this world. You know where you are, right?" Ken asked.

"Oh." Adeel said, nodding his head. "That I do. The digital world is more home to me than the real one, in fact."

"How odd." Izzy said. "We've never seen you before."

"I do my best to be invisible." He replied, continually coming closer and closer.

"And why might that be?" Ken asked, refusing to let his guard down after what had just happened.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just like all of you." He said soothingly.

"That's the second time this week I've heard someone say that." Ken shot back. "The first guy who said it happens to be a power-hungry mass murderer."

"Your suspicion is, admittedly, warranted." Adeel conceeded. He began reaching into his pocket, just a few meters from the group now.

"Slowly, please." Ken asked, watching his hand in his pocket.

Slowly, Adeel pulled out a digivice. A D-3, to be precise. This one, again, was colorless. Ken's eyes widened.

"You'll excuse me if I'm having an unfortunate case of Deja Vu." Ken said. "Please explain yourself in detail."

"As you wish. As I say, I am one of you. A digidestined. A bit of a late bloomer, so it happens, but here I am. I've been raised in the states, and up until this thing came into my life-" he held up the digivice "-I've had a life too boring to even be worth telling you all about."

Ken's eyes danced from his D-3 to Adeel's face. "I see. And you've decided to show up at this particular moment...why?"

Adeel rubbed the bridge of his nose, now stepping right in front of Ken. "Well, I believe I can be of assistance in fighting the Emperor...but also because I sensed something terrible had happened here."

"You sensed right." Cody said. "Cory showed up and..." he gestured with his head towards Tai's body.

"Huh." Adeel said, walking up to the corpse. "Oh Jesus...Tai?"

"You know him?" TK asked immediately. Suddenly, Kari stopped crying and looked up at Adeel.

"I know of him." He responded. "I know he was the leader...but why?"

"Why what?" Sora asked.

"Why did he kill him?" He asked.

"Because he's a terrible, evil person who seeks to off the digidestined so he can accomplish his evil goals?" Mimi said.

"No, no...it's not that, it's-"

"You can bring him back." Kari suddenly said, looking up at him from the ground.

Ken sighed. "Great, back to stage one." He said under his breath.

"No, no." Kari pushed herself up. "He can, he can, I can feel it." She began to approach him slowly. "Now, in our hour of greatest need, the knight in shining armor emerges from the shadows to turn back the clock and give an innocent boy a second chance at life!"

Ken stepped in front of her, pushing her back. "Adeel, I am so, so sorry. Tai's her brother, she's delirious. Give her a few days, I'm sure she'll be back to normal and apologize herself."

"She's right." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ken said quickly.

"I can bring him back. Or rather, I know how to." He said.

A long pause of silence followed this statement. And then, Kari started to sob again.

"I knew it!" She screeched through tears. "I don't know how...I knew it. How?" She said quickly, her head tilting back up to Adeel. "Azulongmon's digicores?"

Adeel shook his head. "Azulongmon doesn't have the ability to bring back the dead. Raw power won't do it."

"Then what is it?" Ken asked. "And please don't screw around, you have no idea how gruesomely Kari will slaughter you if you're not serious."

"I'm serious. I know how to bring him back...but..."

"But what?" TK snapped. "If you know how to bring him back, do it before Kari kills herself, for god sakes!"

"Calm down...it's just...I don't think I should." Adeel said finally.

"What are you talking about?" Davis said. "Of course you should!"

"I'm sorry, but...I should explain." He admitted. "What happens when a digimon dies?"

"They get reconfigured back to primary village." Izzy said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, but, what else?" Adeel continued. He waited for everyone to shrug. "When a digimon dies, it could be several different forms, potential. From baby to mega. But when they get sent back to primary village, they're reborn as babies. What do you suppose happens to that surplus of energy?

"Huh. Never even thought of that." Izzy said to himself, sounding disappointed. "I have no idea."

"Well, it gets saved and stored in a special place. The valley of the digital lost souls, so to speak. It gets held there until Primary Village needs it to generate more baby digimon. However, the surplus is usually much bigger than what the Primary Village needs, so over the centuries, the buildup of extra power has become enormous."

Ken couldn't help himself. His eyes ignited with a vicious fire. "How enormous?" He said silkily.

"I'm guessing enough to create...I dunno, at least three thousand megas. Probably more, I don't really know." He then noticed Ken looking as if he just walked in on a Jessica Alba, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie threesome. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to stop you right there."

"What?" He said quickly.

"The vaults in the valley of digital lost souls have one purpose, and one purpose only. To fuel the primary village. I'm afraid I can't let you use it for...whatever you're thinking about."

"Listen, the Emperor has one thing standing between him and digital world domination." He pointed down into his belt at the rod. "This. And it needs fuel to run. I'll do whatever I need to keep it filled, got it? And if what you're saying is true, I think we might have hit onto something big. Big enough to defeat the Emperor."

"Ken, I'm sorry, but it's not happening. You'd be interrupting the natural order of things in the digital world. It'd be an act of incredible evil to tap into that power for anything other than-"

"I don't care!" Ken suddenly hissed, advancing threateningly on Adeel. Before anyone knew what was happening, he had grabbed his collar and was holding him up in the air.

Everyone had their eyes on Adeel, calmly hanging up in midair. Slowly, Ken lowered him back down to the ground, his eyes reverting back to their usual blue. "Sorry, sorry. Keep going." He said hurriedly, shaking his head rapidly.

"What's this got to do with Tai?" Kari asked, having since picked herself up and stopped crying.

"Well, Tai's...soul, for the lack of a better word, has gone to this valley. And it's still there, and will remain there for no doubt thousands of years until his life energy is called on by the Primary Village."

"I see." Ken said, seemingly having completely returned to normal after the odd outburst of emotion. "So we could go to this...valley...and retrieve Tai?"

"Well...yes, we could. I've been there once, and know how we could...cheat the system to get him out of there."

"And you don't think you should because it's...'evil' or 'wrong' or something, nevermind we'd be reviving the leader of the group that's trying directly to _fight_ the forces of evil." TK said through gritted teeth.

"Well, yes. I mean, it's very sacred to the Harmonious Ones." Adeel said slowly.

"Well, we can explain it to them, I'm sure they'll understand it's for the greater good." Davis said.

"It's not that. They might understand, but...when we do it, the alarms are gonna go off. You see what I'm saying? The valley is very, very well hidden. But if we go, and try to do what we need to do, I'm afraid we're gonna get a visit from Azulongmon himself."

"Okay, so, we explain ourselves then." Cody said casually. "Big deal."

"I'm worried...the commotion we'd cause...Cory's a smart guy. Evil genius."

"What, Cory knows about you?" Izzy asked.

"Oh, very well." Adeel said quickly. "I...I think he might have killed Tai because he knew it would draw me out. He knew I would come, and then go to the valley so Tai could be revived. Then...somehow, through our actions, he could discover the location of the valley. And then..." Adeel blinked a few times.

"So?" Davis said sharply. "You've got a hunch. We need our leader, we can't not bring him back over a hunch. And what makes you so sure we can't defend the valley from Cory?"

Adeel turned to Davis. "I like your spirit. I really do, kid. But I know Cory well. I don't really wanna talk about it, but trust me. It's not every day that you figure out an evil genius's plan before it's already been acted out. We can't play into his hands." He looked at Tai's corpse. "I'm sorry, I know Tai is...a huge loss, but we can't play into Cory's hands. The consequences could be catastrophic if he gets his hands on the valley."

A loud click sounded behind Adeel's back. He felt cold steel press into the back of his head. Ken had created the oversized silver revolver in his hand again while Adeel was looking at Ken, and had pressed it into his head.

"Hey, hey man, I'm on your side. You still don't believe me?" Adeel said casually.

"Oh, I believe you." Ken said menacingly. "You just don't understand how we do things around here. You don't just...come around and taunt us with the idea of reviving our dead leader, then just say you can't do it because of a hunch."

"Listen, the truth is, I never should have said anything. The girl-" he gestured at Kari "-started babbling, and it just...came out!" 

"That's a shame." Ken hissed. "You're free to speculate as much as you like about what the Emperor plans to do, but you're bringing Tai back. That's your purpose among the digidestined, don't you see? You didn't just come out of nowhere in our moment of need for nothing."

Adeel sighed. "Your emotions will be your downfall. A wise leader would recognize the weight of the situation. There's another reason why Tai should stay dead."

"If you like your brain where it is, it better be a damn good one." Ken said.

The eleven others watched, seeing the raging half of Ken come out again, but this time not caring as they fully believed in what he was doing.

"Cory needs all the digidestined to fulfill his ultimate goal. He needs them alive." Adeel said slowly.

"And I suppose you would have killed one of us had Cory not already done it for you?" Ken said. "If that's true, why did Cory kill Tai? And what's this 'goal' you speak of?"

"Because he thought I would come and revive him, but if I don't, his entire plan goes down the drain, don't you see?!" Adeel said, touching his speech up slightly with a snarl. "All he wants to do is locate the valley, but if we don't behave as expected, he'll be done! I don't know what his goal is, I just know he needs all of us alive."

"Not good enough." Ken said, a steely cool entering his voice. "We're going to the valley, Adeel." Ken said. "Unless you want to see how the inside of your head looks splattered on the ground."

A short pause. "Unlike you, Ken, I'm interested in the greater good and know when to block out my emotions. You'll just have to shoot me. If we go to the Valley, I fear both worlds are doomed. If I'm to die either way, I'd rather not take everyone else with me."

"How noble." Ken said. "Do you really believe I won't find the valley? I'll rip this world apart if I must. Same goes for the Emperor, you think he'll stop at anything to find it? Don't act as if you know some great secret, Adeel. If it exists, it will be found with or without your help."

"Very well. Do what you gotta do."

Ken slipped his index finger into the trigger guard. A short pause followed. Then, quite suddenly, Adeel's chest convulsed and he fell to his knees, his eyes glossed over for just a split second.

And then, he pushed himself back up to his feet, even as Ken lowered the weapon downwards towards his new head level.

"Hold it!" Adeel said. "Don't shoot. I'll do it. I'll bring Tai back."

Ken snickered, absorbing the gun back into his rod. "You talk the talk, Adeel. But you don't walk the walk."

"It's not that." Adeel said slowly, looking over at Kari, who was standing next to Tai's corpse. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." Ken dared.

"Maybe another time. Tai still has a role to play in this battle."

"You think?" Sora said under her breath. "I mean, it's not like he was our _leader_ or anything."

"Yes. Yes. Very well, I'll show you the valley. But we're only there to bring Tai back." He glanced at Ken. "Understood?"

Ken nodded languidly.

"It's easy enough to get there, so long as you know how." He began holding down the large button on his D-3 while pressing the other two buttons over and over. "It's sort of like morse code."

"And we're going to physically get there...how?" TK asked.

"We'll be there in a moment. Think of it as sending an email and attaching yourself to it." Adeel responded.

And then, the group disappeared in a flash, leaving the cave completely empty.

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"They don't have, like, corpses here do they?" Mimi asked as they looked down an extremely long valley covered in sand. The wind blew violently in all directions, seemingly at once, causing sand to kick up and provide constant annoyance.

"It's not like that. The energy is kept in a liquidized form. It's like crude oil almost." Adeel responded. "Alright, let's have ourselves a look."

"At what? This valley is completely empty." Davis said.

"Davis, this is the digital world. Think about it for a second." Adeel said. "This place is protected by what you might call a firewall. Hold on." He hit a few buttons on his D-3 again in rapid succession, and quite suddenly, massive machines appeared along the walls of the valley.

Red and towering to the very top of the valley, the machines were in a rough box shape, a massive gray tube sticking out from the side of each one, connecting it to the walls. Each machine seemed to shake and gurgle slightly, putting strain on the metallic bolts that held it together.

"Damn." Ken said quietly. "How far does this valley go?"

"I'd rather not say." Adeel said. "Lemme see..."

"How do we find Tai?" Kari asked, looking at all the massive machines.

"Humans don't often die in the digital world, so I should be able to isolate him. Can I borrow your computer?" Adeel turned to Izzy.

"Fine, but you screw anything up on it and you're gonna be feeling that revolver in the back of your skull again." He said, lacing his voice with menace as he removed his backpack.

As the yellow laptop powered up, Adeel noticed Ken had walked up to one of the machines and was stroking it affectionately. "Oh, my my." He moaned.

"Ken." Adeel said warningly.

Ken slowly stepped away. "Of course." He said casually.

"Now..." Adeel said, hammering away on the keys. "Here we are..." he pounded down on the enter key, and suddenly, the machines began to move very quickly down the valley, as if on an accelerated treadmill. This went on for a few seconds, until the machines were practically blurs, and then, in an instant, they froze.

Adeel pointed to the one to their immediate left. "Score." He went up to it. "Alright, everyone brace yourself." He knocked on the metallic skeleton of the machine. A portion of the metal armor scaled back to reveal a small screen and keyboard. He began pressing the buttons on the board slowly until the screen came to life. "Yes. There he is." He said quietly. He began typing more and more rapidly.

And then, in a flash, the sky cracked open and Azulongmon extended his head down from the heavens. His nose stopped just a few dozen feet above the group.

"I don't recall allowing an unscheduled withdrawal." He said quite seriously. "How did you find this place?"

Ken slowly pointed at Adeel.

Azulongmon sighed. "Adeel, I told you never to return to this place. Especially with company, and especially when your goal is to cheat my system."

"I had to." Adeel said quietly. "I wasn't going to, but...I had to come."

"You better have an extremely good reason." Azulongmon said warningly. "This is a sacred place."

"The Emperor killed Tai." TK said suddenly. "Does that qualify as an extremely good reason?"

"Regretable, and most unfortunate, but this is war. Casualities are to be expected. I might expect all of _you_ to do something rash to bring him back, but I would have thought Adeel to be smart enough to know coming here was not an option."

"Azulongmon. You have to understand. I would not have come here if I didn't have to. Tai's murder was more than just unfortunate."

A long, awkward pause ensued. After several seconds, Azulongmon sighed. "I hope you realized what you've done. Very well, bring Tai back. But from now on, we must work under the assumption that this valley is compromised." He snaked back into the sky, disappearing in an instant.

"What's going on, Adeel?" Davis asked. "Is there something you need to tell us?"

"No. It's nothing." He responded, typing on the keyboard again.

Davis glanced over at Ken, who shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, the large machine began to shake violently. A blue light emerged from the top of it and arced down towards the group. Slowly, it began to descend on Tai's corpse. Everyone stepped back from the body and watched with great interest.

The small light entered Tai, and his eyes popped wide open. He huffed and puffed heavily several times. "Jesus." He said inbetween breaths. "What the hell happened?" 

Kari just froze for a minute, watching Tai push himself back up to his feet. Then, she began to tear up again. "Oh, Tai." She moaned.

Tai looked around at everyone staring at him, then at the surrounding landscape. "Where are we? What's going on?"

Ken walked up to Tai. "Tai." He seemed to be making an effort to sound balanced, but his voice shook slightly. "We thought we lost you." He leaned in and gave Tai a dignified hug.

"Is someone gonna tell me what's going-ugh." He returned the hug quickly, then pushed away. "C'mon, guys."

Matt finally spoke up. "Cory...he shot you. You were dead."

Tai snickered. "Don't be dumb. If I died, what am I doing alive?" He asked sardonically.

"It's...complicated." Joe added. "You've been given a second shot, Tai."

"Are you sure?" Tai looked down at his arms. "I don't feel like I've been dead."

"Tai!" Kari suddenly yipped, running up at Tai from behind and jumping on his back, knocking him over. "I thought I'd lost you!" She said, gripping onto his chest hard.

"Okay, okay..." he tried to unbuckle her hands around his chest, but they wouldn't come undone. "Are you guys for real? Was I..."

Everyone nodded.

"My god...how did-"

"Thirteen happens to be the lucky number of the digidestined, Tai." Ken said, pointing at Adeel. "We've got a new member, and he brought a wonderful welcoming gift. The gift of life."

Adeel turned to Ken slowly. "So...you trust me now, do you?"

"Adeel. There are few things more worth my admiration than what you've just done for us. Yes, so long as you don't abuse it, you have my trust." Ken slowly walked up to Adeel, his hand stuck out towards him.

Adeel took it slowly. "As you say. I'll do all I can to assist in this battle against the Emperor."

Kari finally released Tai. "Oh, Tai. I can't believe you're really back." She looked at Adeel. "Thank you...so much, I don't know what I would have done."

Adeel nodded. "Don't worry about it. You're welcome. Alright, everyone. Hold on." Adeel pulled out his digivice.

"Where is this place?" Ken asked quickly.

"Oh." Adeel nodded slowly. "It can only be accessed by someone who's been there before. Remember the maze in the temple on file island?"

"Sure." Mimi said. "Course I do."

"Solve the maze, and you'll arrive here, but only if you've been there before or have the invitation of someone else who has. Should you ever need to return here, that is how you find it."

Then, in a flash, the group disappeared.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, do we keep checking this place out or go home?" Cody asked, looking down the long tunnel of the Black Market.

"We should call it a day." Ken said. "I think we've made some decent headway."

"Ken." Cody said, turning back to him. "I think I understand now."

"Meaning what?" Ken inquired.

"You're right. We need to do whatever it takes." He looked over at Tai. "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble, but...I get it now. It's just...seeing Tai die right before my eyes. I get it. I don't want to have to see that again. Do whatever you need to do, I won't object anymore."

"Thank you." Ken said, nodding.

"Ken." Kari suddenly said. Ken looked over to her. She stood next to Tai, looking up at him with reverence. "I get it too." The positive glow in her eyes had died out. "I never thought I'd say this...you know me, you all do. I want blood."

"Sorry, what?" Ken asked, his voice slightly raspy. "Blood?" 

"Yes." She said, her fist shaking slightly by her side. "If he wants to go mano et mano...I think we need to respond. Up until now, we've done everything through digimon." She nodded slowly. "It's time for us to fight."

"I like it." Davis said. "Gives us more manpower and security." He looked down at Veemon. "Yeah, let's take matters into our own hands."

Ken nodded. "Your wish is my command." He pulled out his rod, shook it twice, and a metal rack about four feet tall and eight feet wide with four shelves appeared. Each row was lined to capacity with guns, from the smallest hand pistols to the most terrifyingly large assualt rifles.

TK's eyes flared up as his brain acknowledged the rack. "Oh, my my." He said quietly to himself. Casually, he walked up to it and reached into the bottom, pulling out an AK-47. "Oh, hell yes."

"I'm game." Izzy said, looking the rack over. "We may as well do something useful."

"I've never held a gun in my life." Joe conceded.

"Same." Mimi said.

"Don't worry about that." Ken said, waving his rod, causing the weapons and rack to disappear. "I'll take care of all that tomorrow. We meet in my room tomorrow morning at ten to discuss where we go from here."

Everyone nodded, as Izzy slowly brought the digiport up on his laptop.


	7. The Calm Before The Storm

Chapter Seven: A Calm Before The Storm

A couple people commented on the Deus Ex Machina in the past chapter. And yes, it's entirely obvious, blatant, and pretty poorly done, I realized that as I was writing it. I wasn't really happy with it, but I didn't know how else to do it. I concede that the events of last chapter are very DEM-ish, but for those turned off by it, I ask you to bear with me. Nobody hates DEM more than me, and I intend to resolve the issue of it popping up last chapter sometime in the future. Trust me.

Also, I made a small mistake with Adeel. His last name is Ahmed, not Achmed, and he is actually from Canada opposed to America. Yes, in case anyone in wondering why it's relevant, Adeel is actually a user and one of my friends on who requested I insert him in this story. I know it might be an unusual request, and perhaps even more of an unusual thing to do, but I felt I could pull it off. Again, bear with me, I apologize to anyone who was disappointed with the last chapter. I'll clean up, trust me.

------------------------------------------------------------

"So what do you think?" TK asked Davis as they strolled down the hallway of the apartment building. "I mean, I'd hate to offend or bother him, y'know?"

"Well, Tai and Kari have that cat...that doesn't seem to be a problem." Davis responded.

"Yeah, but Patamon is a different digimon from Agumon and Gatomon. I'd hate to cause a problem." TK looked behind him.

"Why you asking me? Ask him. Where is he anyway?" Davis responded, looking around.

"I don't wanna ask him, I'm afraid even bringing it up could...you know, set him off. I told him to fly over here, y'know, go up high so nobody can see."

Davis raised an eyebrow. "That's sorta dangerous. I mean, someone could see...I thought we agreed that shoving them in a backpack was the best way to go."

"I wanted to talk to you. And it's fine, from a distance he looks just like a bird. A really fat bird. Anyway, I've always wanted a dog." TK continued.

"I think Patamon would understand. It's not like he's always there." Davis said thoughtfully. "But you should talk to him about it. I don't think he'll mind you bringing it up. I think he'll be flattered that you talked to him first."

"I was thinking about just not saying anything. Y'know, get the dog, just hide it when he comes around. He doesn't actually hang around my house that often. Usually, I mean. I'll wait for the Emperor thing to blow over, so Patamon can go back to the digital world, then I get the do. When Patamon comes over or whatever, I hide the dog. I don't think it'd be that hard."

"Yeah. Leave him with a friend, or Matt, could work. But, if you can't tell Patamon, you shouldn't do it." Davis countered.

"Why not?" TK asked, as they slowly neared Ken's apartment door.

"Because if you're not comfortable with telling him, then it's wrong. At least, you think it's wrong. And if it's wrong, you shouldn't be doing it. At least, not unless you're willing to wrong a good friend like Patamon." Davis explained.

"He doesn't need to know. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." TK reasoned.

"No, no, no, no, no." Davis said slowly. "For some of us, yes, that system of reasoning works. But you, TK, are a good boy. Yes, from your blond hair to your...your swedish boy-like, good looks, you are an angel. And as an angel, the guilt of doing something you know is wrong is going to eat you up inside. You will tear yourself apart over this."

"I can be bad!" TK insisted. "You ever see me with a gun in my hand? I turn into a vicious, lean, killing machine."

"Yeah, well, if you go to the pet store and rob it with a glock to get your dog, maybe we've got something. But otherwise, you are just too good to do something like that." Davis walked up to the correct apartment door and turned the bronze knob right.

The door swung open to reveal the Ichijouji residence. TK smacked the back of Davis's head again. "Who do you think you are? Ever heard of knocking?" For effect, he sharply rapped the back of Davis's skull with his knuckles a few times.

"Okay, okay! Geez, sorry." Davis said, rubbing the back of his head. "What do you care?"

"It's common courtesy." TK said. "And stop...hitting on me. Or whatever it is you're doing."

Ken's mom stuck her head out from around the corner of the hallway from the kitchen. "Oh, hi boys. Ken's in his room.

"Thanks." Davis said as the two strolled in. "Anyway, what're you gonna do?" He resumed the conversation with TK.

"I guess I gotta ask Patamon." He said resignedly. "I'll bet he says no."

"Hold it." Davis said. "Don't ask Patamon if you can get a dog. Instead, tell him that you are getting a dog."

TK rubbed his chin. "What's the difference?" They turned into the hallway that led to Ken's room. 

"Well, if you ask him, he's going to say whatever's on his mind and assume you're making your choice based on what he says. So if he has, like, a little problem with the idea of getting a dog, he's gonna say don't get it. But if you tell him, he's going to assume that it's already a done deal and there's nothing he can say about it. But, if he has some huge problem, like he thinks it could sever your relationship, he'll bring it up. So that way, you can tell Patamon the truth, and probably get your dog." He concluded, reaching for the doorknob of Ken's room.

"I like it. Thank-wait!" He grabbed Davis's hand on the knob. "Knock!" He hissed.

Unfortunately, he had already twisted the knob enough for the door to slip open. It slowly turned on it's hinges as Davis let it go in surprise of TK grabbing his hand. As Murphy's law would have it, through the small opening in the door, the pair could see Ken lying back on the bed, his right hand down his pants, his left holding a magazine in front of his face.

"Oh, christ-" Ken started, whipping his hand out and throwing the magazine on the other side of the bed from the door. "What the-"

TK quickly grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door shut, then turned on Davis. "Thanks a frickin lot! You're lucky he does it with his pants up!" He glanced at the door. "Which is...gross." He squinted his eyes. "Ugh."

"W-what's he doing taking care of business in the _morning?_ You don't do that in the morning, not right before company arrives!" Davis babbled.

TK glanced up at the clock on the wall behind him. "Well, we're like eight minutes early."

"Augh!" Davis said, rubbing his eyes. "Not cool!"

The door opened a crack and Ken stuck his head out. "Are you guys insane?!"

"Well, if you locked your door, there wouldn't be a problem. Hell, do you guys lock any doors around here, I came right in through the front door too-"

"Oh, hell, just get in!" He hissed, throwing the door open. "Jesus Christ!" TK and Davis slipped into the room.

To their surprise, Matt was seated on the computer chair in the opposite right corner of the room, his face frozen, looking at TK and Davis.

"Wh-what-" TK looked at the bed. Then at Ken. Then at Matt. His eyes suddenly enlarged and his clapped his hands over his face. "AUUUGH!"

"Calm down." Ken said under his breath. "I invited him over early to..." he trailed off.

"To WHAT?" TK asked, uncovering his face and grabbing Ken by the collar.

A short pause followed, featuring Ken looking reproachfully towards the door of the room. "...show me how." He mumbled.

TK slowly let Ken go. Everyone stared at each other in turn for a moment. "...show you how?" TK repeated.

"Yeah...I was having...problems. I wanted someone to help me out." TK continued to stare at him. "Hey, I don't have an older brother, okay?!"

"That doesn't mean you can borrow mine!" TK shouted indignantly. "Ask your dad!"

"He has issues!" Ken yelled back.

TK looked behind him, back at Matt. "Are you for real?" He asked, his voice an octave higher than usual.

Matt slowly rolled his eyes. "He's a good kid, needed some help, so I thought-"

"AUUUGH!" TK put his hands back over his face and sat down on the bed.

Davis shook his head. "Did it have to be _now?_"

"You showed up early! Besides...when Kari was clawing at me yesterday, I...you know. But last night I got back late, and...well, yeah." Ken went red and looked down at the floor.

"Okay, okay! Can we get serious, today is a big day!" Matt said.

"Fine, fine." TK said, standing up and removing his hands from his face. "Ken, what're you thinking?" He turned to Ken.

Ken looked back up. "Honestly? I'm wondering what Kari's doing wearing a bra." He said unabashfully.

A short pause was interrupted by TK. "Because that's what girls wear? You...know that, right?"

Ken looked up at the ceiling. "Well, they wear it for support, right? What the hell is she supporting?"

TK glowered at Ken. "You trying to say something?"

"Hey, she's flat as an ironing board." Ken said defensively, holding his hands up towards TK, palms out. "Facts is facts. Y'know, girls usually don't start wearing bras until there's something to hold up."

"That's true." Davis said slowly, looking down at the ground. "Maybe they just...pop out when women reach a certain age?" He put his hands on his chest, held as if he was gripping two small cups. Then, he clicked his tongue as he pulled his hands out about six inches from his chest. "So they gotta be wearing it at all times during puberty, because it could just...inflate suddenly."

Matt started snickering wildly from the computer chair. Everyone looked over at him. He had a hankerchief over his face, spazming slightly, laughing quietly behind the napkin.

"What?" Ken asked.

"I-I'm sorry." He put the napkin back in his pocket, tears running down his face. "You guys...talking about girls...just stop, seriously. Stop."

A knock came at the door. Ken pointed at it, hand open, palm pointed towards the sky. "There. See! This is how we behave in a civilized society!" He walked up to it and grabbed the knob, rotating it to open. Izzy stood in the threshhold. "Hey."

"Hey guys." Izzy walked in. "What's happening?"

"Waiting for the rest of the crew. Until then we're talking about...manhood and puberty I guess." Matt responded.

"Ooh, I'm up for that!" Izzy enthused, walking over to and plopping down on the bed.

"No, no, you're not." Ken said. "That conversation is dead. Nobody try to revive it."

"Alright then. Ken, I believe we left off yesterday with us deciding to up the ante. You whipped out the hardware and all that."

Ken reached under his bed, feeling around on the floor. "Hold on a sec...here we go." He pulled out a notebook. "I've been writing down my thoughts since this whole debacle started." He opened it up and started going through pages. "Alright, so we've got a source of energy, unreliable and shady it may be. Unfortunately, the Emperor's sources are infinitely larger than ours. In fact, he could probably make a scale model of the Sears Tower and Empire State Building and still have enough left over to kick our asses twenty times over."

"And it's not going to get any better." Izzy added. "I don't know anything about his whole mining operation he's got going, but I'm willing to bet he's barely even begun to tap into what the digital world holds."

"Yup." Ken nodded slowly. "And he can still conduct mass digimon genocide, find already existing forms of power, and who knows what else."

"Like the valley." Davis added.

"You don't suppose we could try our hand at mining?" TK wondered allowed.

"We don't know where to look, what to look for, or how to do it. I thought about it, but I don't think it's feasible. However, I wonder if we could sabatoge or hijack one of the Emperor's...drills, or whatever it is."

"I'll bet he's got crazy security." Matt threw in. "I like the idea though. Piggyback off what he's doing since he's got a head start."

"I'll have it looked into. I think we need to go back to the market and try and find more leads. At the moment, I don't think there's anything else we can do. Still have no idea how to find the Emperor."

"I had a thought." Izzy spoke up suddenly. "Something Gennai said...we need to help the new generation of digidestined to get to ultimate. And if we could take it to mega, that'd be great as well."

"Again, no idea where to begin. Since we've still got a hell of alot of black market to explore, I think we need to stick it out there. Hey, maybe one of the shops has a crest for sale or something."

"Possible." Davis mulled. Something tapped lightly on the bedroom window. Ken jumped up and went over to it.

"It's Patamon." TK said casually. "Open it up."

Ken slid the latch to the right and pulled up hard, pulling it open a foot. Patamon, perched on the windowsill, fell in.

"Did I have to fly? My wings are frozen." He immediately complained.

"Sorry, my bookbag is broken." TK shrugged. "By the way, I'm getting a dog." He said quickly. "Okay! Ken, you were saying."

Patamon threw an indignant look at TK. A knock at the door interrupted any potential brewing argument, however. Davis reached open and pulled the door open, admitting Yolei, Kari, and Tai.

"Hey guys. The rest are coming in a bit." Tai announced.

Ken looked around. "I don't got anything else to say. When everyone gets here, we go to the Market and see what we can see."

"We do have one unresolved issue. Our double lives aren't flowing so well." Davis spoke up. "We can't play sick if we're going to be out of bed, we've got a very limited number of excused absences, and I do sorta need to pick my grades up."

"Ever see that movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off?" Tai suddenly said. "Great movie, check it out. Maybe you could fake sick and then pull something like that."

Ken scratched the back of his head. "Well, you don't suppose we could explain the situation to the school and our parents...maybe get an official excuses leave of absence?"

"The digital world isn't mainstream enough to pull something like that off." Yolei countered. "I mean, maybe our parents, but not the schools."

"Alright then. We get our parents to write up reasons for extended leaves of absences and get them sent into the school." TK suggested.

"Great, so long as none of us appears out in public." Matt objected.

"No. I think TK might have something." Ken looked around at everyone. Another knock came at the door. Davis let Sora in. "Hey, we're discussing our real world conflicts."

"Good. If I have to call in one more bomb threat-" Sora began.

Ken cut her off by glaring daggers at Tai and Matt and hissing. "Idiots! I told you to stop with the terrorist bullcrap!"

"It's just temporary until your genius came up with something better." Tai said dismissively. "C'mon, where's the genius?"

Ken sighed. "Very well." He pointed at Tai. "Tai, you've taken a soccer ball to the head and wound up with a severe case of Amnesia. The doctors decided to ship you to China for a stay at one of the world's top amnesia therapy facilities. You are so out of it and so out of touch, nobody except the doctors are allowed to see or talk to you."

"Okay, but what if someone checks the patient list and doesn't see Tai Kamiya?" Tai asked.

"Hold it." Ken ran over to his computer, pushed Matt off his chair, and did a quick bit of high-speed typing and clicking. "Got it."

"Got what?" Matt asked from down on the ground, pushing himself back up. "If you just asked, I woulda given you the chair by the way, jeez."

"I just hacked into the facilities computers. I've put Tai in one of the 'critical condition' wards. The guy who's actually in there is too out of it to even remember his actual name, is completely off the edge, and doesn't have any friends or family to visit him. It's perfect."

"Too perfect. Check on that listing constantly, they could easily change it back." Izzy warned.

"On it." Ken nodded.

"And about me going out in public?" Tai asked slowly.

Ken thought for a moment, right hand on his chin, then snapped the fingers of his left. "Cut your hair, dye it blonde, adopt a southern accent, and if anyone asks your name is Chunk."

"What? No! I'm not touching my hair, I like my voice, and I am most certainly not naming myself...chunk." Tai spat back.

"Fine. But do something." Ken shrugged. "Everyone else, make up excuses, run them by me, then get your parents to sign off on them."

"Sounds good." Matt responded.

"Okay, waiting on...Joe, Mimi, and Cody." Ken counted off.

"Mimi couldn't delay it any longer, she had to fly back to America." Tai corrected. "She said she can meet us in the digital world."

"Well, that complicates things." Ken scratched his head. "We'll be alright though."

A knock came at the door. Davis leaned over and admitted Joe and Cody. "Hey." The two chorused.

"Oh look. It's the chain gang." Ken said sardonically, looking at Joe's wallet chain, then at Cody's new one of the same type. "What is wrong with you people?"

"Well, we figured we both have the crest of reliability, so we'd get matching wallets. Besides, there's nothing more reliable than a strand of steel in terms of wallet security." Cody said.

Ken hung his head downwards, glaring at his knees. "You don't have any money! If somebody stole your wallet, they'd quickly realize they had made a horrible mistake, return it, and then be on their way!" He looked over at the computer. "Alright, we should go. Someone give Mimi a ring."

"Why can't you do it?" Matt asked.

Ken threw a look Matt's way. "Not on my phone plan."

"It's not the weekend, it's not after seven...nope, can't do it." Tai concurred.

"We're gonna need phone cards if we expect to keep this up." Joe mused.

"No time. Can someone just make the call?" Ken hissed, activating the digiport. "I'll pick up phone cards later."

"Fine, fine." Sora responded, pulling out her phone from inside her jacket. "I've got a pretty solid long distance plan. Dunno how I ever got by without Sprint."

"Uh-huh." Ken said mindlessly as the digiport opened. "Alright. You know what, I've changed my mind. We need to keep the recruiting up. So..." he looked around at everyone. "Cody, Davis, Joe, Matt, and Mimi are to come with me to the market. And if time and situation permits, we can work on our firearm skills. TK, Yolei, Sora, Kari, Tai, and Izzy, you try your hand at recruiting. We'll switch things up tomorrow."

"Hey hey hey!" Davis interjected. "What system did you use to construct the groups?" He demanded.

Ken sighed deeply, his eyes up at the ceiling. "I took the third letter of everyone's last name, converted the letter to it's corresponding number when A is one, B is two, and so on, took the cube root of every third number, then cubed the rest, and multipled everything by pi. Everyone with a number that was a factor of six was put into group one, and everyone who's number had a cosine inbetween point thirty seven and point seventy three was put into group two."

"For serious?" Davis asked slowly, scratching his head. "I'm trying to run all that through my head, and I don't think it adds up."

"Fine. I lied. The truth is more complicated, care to hear?" Ken asked threateningly, bugging his eyes out.

"Okay okay. Fine. Nevermind." Davis glanced away from Ken.

"One final note. Yes, I know you all want to know. I do not know what to make of this...Adeel character. I'd prefer we have as little to do with him as possible." Ken spoke, his natural talent in public speaking showing clearly in his words.

"Hey, you know, I'd be dead if it wasn't for him." Tai said quietly to himself.

"Yes, and we're grateful for that. But now that you're back, unless Adeel can provide us further help in our fight, I'd rather we stay away." He looked out the window slowly. "He's not telling us everything. He's one of perhaps a few living beings in either world capable of bringing someone back from the dead, it's more than coincidence that he just happens to show up right when we need him."

"He's a digidestined." Kari objected, though her voice was shaky and unsure.

"So is Cory, might I add." Ken countered sharply. "Further on the subject of coincidences, Adeel so happens to carry a colorless digivice and no digimon partner, like Cory. I don't want to pass any judgement now, but I'd rather us avoid him as much as possible." He turned to the computer, holding out his D-3. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."

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"Ken, what you got there?" Davis asked, looking over Ken's shoulder at the diagram he was drawing in his notepad. They, along with the four other digidestined of the group, had been exploring the cave of the black market for the last half-hour or so.

"Map." He grunted. "Lemme see here...down the left side so far we've got...DeeH!" He spazmed his arms about wildly, flinging the notebook and pencil straight up into the air. Davis walked under the falling objects and caught them.

"Digi-smut hut?" Davis finished.

"Yes. Yes, the digi-smut hUT!" He again spazmed his arms out to the side. He grunted, turning around to grab the two objects back. "The Apemon weapon shop, the Stingmon jewelry stand, Rhinomon's Raging Roids, and..." he put the pencil eraser in his mouth. "...what was it again?" 

"The digimon tattoo parlor!" Davis enthused, pulling up his jacket sleeve to expose a newly acquired Gatomon tattoo. It was small, though clearly visible on his forearm, in a simple standing, waving position. "Kari's gonna love this." He said dreamily.

Ken rubbed his eyes hard with his left hand. "You're retarded." He mumbled. "Really, really, really-"

"You won't be throwing around insults when my little badge gets me to second base after the school dance!" Davis spat back.

"Oh yeah. Second base." Ken said flatly."Then you can feel up her nice, cushy, voluptious brea-oh, wait a minute!" He looked down at Davis's chest. "Hell, your curves are just as good as hers! For all the good it does, you're better off feeling up yourself! Give up on the Kari, by the way, TK's got her well within his grasp for the rest of elementary school. You gotta wait until at _least_ Junior High before that falls apart, trust me, I know this sort of thing."

"I've got it all planned out...next month, I plant erectile dysfunction medication in TK's bathroom. As soon as Kari even suspects he's shooting blanks, she'll be out of there. Then, I pounce in!" He mimicked the pouncing motion of a tiger in the air.

"Yes, because manhood size and sex are so very important in their relationship right now." Ken said sarcastically. "Listen, you're white noise right now! You're probably actually alienating her! When Junior High hits, the relationship is gonna hit a snag one way or another, I promise. He's gonna screw up in the sack, look at another girl the wrong way...something. But right now, you've got nothing!"

"What the hell do you know?!" Davis retorted.

"More than you!" Ken said disdainfully.

"Are you guys done?" Matt finally asked. The other four had been trailing behind Davis and Ken, watching the rather amusing bickering between them, but finally decided it had to come to an end. "Ken, what's the rest of your map got?"

Ken looked down at it slowly. "Umm...starting closest to the entrance, I have the smoke room, chop shop, vital organ mini-mart, another weapon dealer, and an armor dealer."

"Okay, that's ten. Do we keep going, buy something, or what?" Cody asked.

"There's nothing to buy. I mean, in terms of equipment I've only seen champion-level stuff, which I can create with a snap of my fingers. If we can find, like, a giga cannon or river-of-power, I'd jump all over that just for the sake of power conservation, but it's not worth it for this champion stuff. I might even consider ultimate-level stuff." Ken digressed.

"One of these shops has to carry something worth our time." Joe said to himself.

"I don't wanna leave at the end of the day empty handed." Ken shrugged. "I want to keep looking until we find something. At the very least we should get in contact with a mercenary shop or something and do a little recruiting of our own."

"If it's all the same to you guys, I wouldn't mind giving the roid shop a go." Veemon said from closer to the ground.

Ken rolled his eyes dramatically, then grabbed the handle of his rod and shook it. Veemon's muscles suddenly tripled in size, increasing the thickness of his arms, legs, and chest considerably.

"Hey, check me out!" He exclaimed. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Unbeknownst to him, his eyes had turned a sickly yellow. Suddenly, he started to frown and look downwards. "One second." He walked up to the wall, turned towards it so nobody could see his frontside, and seemed to examine himself for a moment. He turned back again, waddling over to Ken. "Umm...Ken, most of me got bigger, but...something shrunk." He said quietly.

"That is what steroids do to your body." Ken said sternly, waving the rod again, causing Veemon to go back to normal. "Go home and drink milk or something. Don't worry, I'll beef you up when the time comes."

"Alright then." Matt announced as they came up to the next door in the wall. "Door number eleven, what can you offer?" He muttered, pushing the light green door with the bronze lever-handle open.

Like the other shops, this one was dark and gloomy, a few twitchy, dirty lights just barely keeping the room visible. Cobwebs clung to the corners of the room, and the walls seemed to be alive with movement, courtesy of tiny insect digimon.

However, there was a wooden desk in the middle of the room, a Roachmon standing behind it, and a steel door across the room, so surely this place had something to offer.

"Welcome to Roachmon's Digimon Factory. Unsatisfied with the current selection of millions of digimon out there in the world today? Need a special creation to take care of that one particular job? You name it, we can do it. Just tell our skilled staffmember what you're looking for, or what you want to construct, and within weeks, you'll have a completely original digimon composed from parts of currently existing digimon and whatever else we happen to have. Using our revolutionary, brand-new fusion capsules, anything's possible!" The roachmon droned as the half-dozen approached the desk. He reached down to the desk with his left hand, grabbed a small glass of some murky liquid, and drained it into his mouth. "I hate myself." He moaned.

"Create-a-digimon?" Ken repeated. "So...how does it work?" He dared to ask.

"Hold on." The roachmon leaned over to his side and puked a grey grime all over the shop floor. "I'm so fat." He whined. "Anyway, first you place your order. You can either request a particular sort of digimon you want. For instance, if you wanted a digimon who was capable of very stealthy activities, such as sneaking into a high-security location without being detected, you'd ask for that and we'd assemble it for you. Or you can be more specific, like request a digimon to be made with...I dunno, the legs of a Greymon, wand of a Pixiemon, and head of a Lilymon, and we could do that too."

Ken rubbed his chin. "Interesting. It's much like what the Emperor has been doing." He mused.

"Sounds like some pretty bad stuff." Cody added. "I mean, playing god...it takes what the Emperor's doing and goes a step further."

"True enough. However, it offers some...unique opportunities for us." Ken looked behind the roachmon at the steel door. "Might I have a glance at how it works?" He inquired.

"Sure." He moaned, jumping off the short stool behind the desk and limping towards the door. "Just be careful. It's very complicated technology."

The six digidestined followed the depressed digimon as he went up to the door, pulled a key out from under his wing, and unlocked the door. It swung open slowly, as thick as a bank vault, revealing a medium-sized room composed entirely of steel, housing eleven identical capsules in rows against either wall. Perhaps twelve-feet long, the capsules had no glass windows to look either inside or outside through, and were bolted shut securely. A plethora of wires connected each into the walls.

"Very nice. But what if we wanted to create a massive digimon?" Ken asked.

"Like I said. Very complicated technology. Anyway, after a customer places an order, we call our distributors and acquire the needed parts, then we constructed them together roughly inside one of these capsules. Over a week or so, the parts fuse together, and then spring alive into a real live digimon. It's quite something."

Ken looked around the room suspiciously. "Eleven? That's an odd number. What happened to number twelve?" He asked quickly to the roachmon, who had stopped near the back of the room.

"Smart kid, ain't ya? Too smart, I can't be tellin you that. I might get myself killed." Then, he looked up at the ceiling. "Actually, you know what, I will tell you. Death wouldn't be so bad."

"Pathetic figure, isn't he?" Mimi whispered to Davis.

"Does the digital world have a stock market? I'll bet he was a digi-stockbroker and screwed up." Davis replied.

"Looks the part." Mimi concured.

"Anywho, we used to have twelve, but that Emperor guy showed up not too long ago and bought one. Now, don't ask me why, he wasn't saying." He said quickly, catching the look on Ken's face. "But he wanted it bad. I wasn't gonna sell it, but he kept throwing money down until I couldn't refuse. I wound up with fifteen million for it."

"Then what the hell are you doing here, drinking sludge and hating yourself?" Davis asked.

"Don't you know? Insects have giant families, I had to put in all in a college trust fund for my kids." He responded, slumping his head over. "Don't get the point, ninety-five percent of them are gonna die before they even get near that age anyway."

"Uh-huh." Ken said, not particularly caring. "So, after an order, how long does it usually take?"

"Ohhh...two weeks to gather parts, a week to fuse and bring to life. And then, it's your choice. I mean, the sooner you take it out, the sooner you have it, but letting it ferment in the capsule enhances the digimon's power. Let it sit in there a few extra weeks, you can double it's power. One time we had a mon build a half agumon-half palmon, left it in for three years because he forgot, and when he showed up it was more powerful than an ultimate."

"Okay." Ken said, turning to the group. "So these things are very rare and expensive, powerful enough to pique the Emperor's interest, and seem to be capable of increasing the power of a digimon infinitely." He turned back to Roachmon. "Where does it draw it's power from?"

"That's the beauty." He pointed down into the ground. "A few dozen meters below, there's a small river that runs faster than the speed of sound. We've got waterwheels built down there, these capsules run off hydroelectric power. As long as that river runs, our power supply is limitless."

"Oh, jesus." Ken said under his breath. "I...I didn't even think about that." He turned away from the roachmon, walking towards the front of the room, running his fingers through his hair wildly. "It doesn't stop there, either. Hydroelectric power, solar power, manpower...if he can convert those into sources for his crystals, his supplies won't just be vast. They'll be limitless!"

"Okay okay, calm down." Joe said, though his voice squeaked slightly. "We'll deal with that when we get to it."

"Right. Right." Ken said, breathing heavily. "Sorry, I just...I dunno." He turned to the roachmon. "Well, that's a neat trick. Sounds like a hell of a river too. Anyway...I'd like to place an order." He said quickly. To his surprise and relief, Cody raised no objection.

"Alright, let's hear it." The roachmon said, waddling out towards the other room. "Hold on, lemme get my notepad."

The group followed him out into the first room, which seemed to have collected more cobwebs in the last few minutes. The roachmon fumbled around inside one of the desk drawers and pulled out a pen and notepad. "Go for it."

"Alright. You do have access to mega-level equipment, correct?" Ken asked. 

"I've got connections, I can get anything you want." The roachmon replied.

"Alright. If Cory wants to harness the power of nature, I guess I better respond in kind." Ken said under his breath.

"Great. Am I being replaced?" Wormmon said dejectedly, sitting at Ken's feet.

"We'll see, won't we?" Ken said jovially. "Nah, nobody could replace you. We just need some hard firepower. Now, I want a fighter." Ken began to the attentive Roachmon. "I want more giga cannons than I can shake a stick at. Shoulder mounts, chest mounts, arm enplacements, whatever you got. I want no less than ten. In the event you can't find ten giga cannons, I am also willing to accept the cannons off MetalSeaDramon's nose. The River of Power shooter, I believe it is. I'll also settle for guns that are capable of shooting the energy blasts that WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are capable of firing. And the cannon off Imperiladramon's back could work too. Basically, any energy projectile a Mega Digimon has. In fact, mix it up a bit. Some variety would be nice, just make sure we're dealing with megas."

"This is gonna be steep." Roachmon warned.

"Don't worry about it." Ken replied. "But I don't want projectile cannons. Too much weight and such." He looked up at the ceiling. "Then...lemme see...I want an extended sword, the type that Piedmon uses, to be capable of protruding six feet from the hand of this digimon. Wait, hold that, two swords, both hands." He nodded slowly. "Then, for good measure, I want the hammerhead from Puppetmon's Hammer to basically make up his entire chestplate, so his entire chest area is filled with small holes capable of firing Puppet...Pummel I think it is. I want him covered head-to-toe in MetalEtemon's armor. He should be humanoid, have his weapons as well hidden as humanly possible, and be as small as possible given my requests."

"Will that be all?" The roachmon asked, almost rhetorically.

"Yup." Ken nodded.

The roachmon looked his list over. "I'll give you the big spender discount. Throw four million down, in cash, up front, and it's done."

Ken shook his rod quickly, and four million in hundred-dollar bills appeared on the desk.

"Alright." He said, faking excitement. "This should get me through my alimony payments for the rest of the month."

"Damn. Your ex-wife is riding you hard." Joe commented.

"Yup. All Five Hundred and Seventy Three of em." He said sadly. "See you in three weeks."

----------------------------------------------------------------

"The Emperor has sold himself to the powers of darkness." Sora spoke loudly to the crowd of assorted digimon who made up the population of Toy Town. "Yes, he may be powerful, but as you all know too well, we've beat back the forces of evil regardless of power several times in the past. So, I ask, when heroism makes the phone call to this humble village, will you accept the charges?"

"I like that ending bit." Izzy whispered in Tai's ear. "Very dramatic."

"I like _her_ ending bit." Tai whispered back.

"That's...wonderful." Izzy said flatly.

"What? You don't get it? See, I mean-"

"No!" Izzy hissed back. "I get it, I just don't _want_ it! Keep it!"

"Yeah, yeah." Tai rasped as Sora walked towards the group.

"I think I got through to them." She said briskly as she stopped before the other five.

"It's weird." TK mused. "We've recruited a total of...what, eight locations now, and haven't found so much as a hint of the Emperor making an effort to beat us to the punch."

"I thought of that too." Izzy replied. "I mean, either some of our recruits are faking loyalty and waiting to turn on us in the heat of battle, or the Emperor isn't lifting a finger to recruit anyone. I mean, beyond the Agumon and Tankmon we fought, plus that assassin Renamon, the Emperor hasn't shown any interest in actually convincing digimon to join his fight. And those were all probably mercenaries."

"It'd be so easy too...he's sitting on a veritable mountain of power." Yolei pondered.

"That might be it. He's so powerful, he figures digimon will come to him and he doesn't need to seek them out at all." Kari said slowly.

"Or he just doesn't care at all, and would rather just absorb every digimon in the digital world and transform his power into digimon of his own creation." Sora added.

"Something's up." Izzy said definitely. "Cory's got something up his sleeve. And given that he's mining a load of power as of late, I'd anticipate it to spring into action at any moment." He threw his head around quickly.

"Alright, next up...how about the Cherrymon Forest? I think it's called that." Yolei said suddenly. "I think we're done here."

"Yeah. Let's roll." Izzy pulled out his laptop and began typing. "Hold on."

-------------------------------------------------------------

"It just...pisses me off, you know?" Davis muttered, pulling a .50 Magnum out from the large metal-wicker basket full of guns. "TK's known her for so many years...I just sorta showed up recently...it's like trying a single character challenge in Final Fantasy Tactics. I'm at a huge disadvantage, always an uphill fight." He looked the Magnum over, shrugged, and tossed it back in the basket.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Ken asked, reaching in and pulling out an M-16. "We're thirteen years old, for god's sake. We're too young to even start thinking about third base, much less sex, serious relationships, or marriage. Cool down and wait a few years." He grabbed a clip from inside the bucket and rammed it into the bottom of the barrel.

"Yeah but, TK will always be holding that advantage over my head." Davis responded, reaching back in and digging through the pile of metal death-bringers. "I'll always be fighting with one hand tied behind my back."

"No, you won't." Ken said shortly, caulking the machine gun by pulling the lever on the side back. "People don't marry their elementary school sweethearts. It's practically unheard of. Hell, the odds of marrying a high school or college girlfriend are pretty damn long too." He put the weapon at his side, pointed off into the distance, his left hand gripping the barrel and his right around the grip, index finger inside the trigger guard. "Hold on."

Davis pulled out a pair of Uzis, flipping them around in his hands, as Ken unleashed a barrage of bullets at a large, multicolored target about fifty yards away. They all found their mark in various locations, some even blowing through the red dot in the middle. Each bullet exploded out of the M-16's barrel, causing a woodpecker-esque _ch-ch-ch-ch-ch_ to echo through the wide open desert area they occupied.

"Anyway," Ken continued, "If you squeeze yourself in now, you'll screw things up in the long run. Ninety percent of the time, people don't meet their eventual life partner until their past their teens, I'm willing to bet. I can just about promise TK will never hit a home run with Kari, if you get my meaning." He pulled the clip out of the rifle, peered into it, then placed it and the gun on the ground next to the basket.

"This is interesting." Davis said genuinely, reaching down into the basket for two uzi clips. "So the longer I wait to try and make my move on a relationship with Kari, the better chances I have to...keep things going for a long time."

"Yup." Ken replied. "If you just wanna feel her up and get out, I'd wait about two to three years. Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am...I'd shoot for five years. Marriage is tricky, I mean your odds are already hurt since she knows you so well. I'd wait at least eight years."

"Thanks for the advice." Davis said. "I never thought of it that way." He slapped the clips into his Uzis, then took aim at a target fifty yards in the distance.

"Those are close range weapons." Ken interrupted. "Won't hit anything from that distance, hold on." He picked his rod out of his belt and pointed it at the target, causing it to fly closer to the pair, until it was about fifteen yards from Davis. "There you go. Anyway, at this age, relationships are based on physical infatuation. They mean next-to-nothing later in life. Trust me." He pocketed the rod in his belt.

"Got it." Davis said, pointing the pair of miniature automatics at the target. The two guns erupted, spitting fire at the target, creating a _ch-ch-ch-ch-ch_ twice as fast as Ken's. As advertised, the end result wasn't nearly as accurate. Most of the bullets did penetrate the target in various locations, others flying off into the distance or into the ground, but the holes were considerably more scattered along the cloth.

"If you're gonna wanna use that, you'll need an accurate small sidearm to offset it." Ken forewarned. He reached down into the basket. "Lemme see..." he pulled out a silver, gleaming revolver, again oversized, though not as much as his previous sidearms had been. "This is gonna be my secondary."

"That's nice. Looks familiar." Davis mused, looking the revolver over.

"It's a variation on the _Dirty Harry_ revolver. More technologically advanced, but looks the same." He grabbed the bullet chamber, pulling it out of the gun, showing Davis the eighteen empty bullet housings. To make room for the twelve extra rooms, each chamber was shrunk considerably. "Three times the ammo. I have to get bullets specially made, but thanks to some wonderful explosive technology, they're still .45 calibur. Plus, the chamber can be switched in a matter of seconds, so if you carry extra ones, reloading is easier than ever." He slapped the chamber back home, then spun it around inside the trigger guard on his index finger playfully.

"I like it...what do you recommend?" He asked, looking down into the basket. "I don't really know guns."

Ken quickly reached down and snatched a boxy pistol off the top of the pile. A lighter black than the other guns, Davis also recognized this one.

"Isn't that the gun from _Tomorrow Never Dies_?" He asked, sure he had seen it somewhere recently.

"Yep." Ken replied, handing it to him, grip-first. "Walther P99. The gun Bond himself used after losing his Walther PPK. Great power, is still exceedingly accurate, and just looks so damn cool."

Davis took it. "Not bad." He reached into the basket for a clip. "I'll give it a workout."

Ken pulled a box out of his jacket pocket and pulled it open, pulling out revolver rounds one by one and inserting them into his weapon. "As much as I love revolvers, reloading is a real pain." He muttered.

"Before today I'd only touched a real gun once before in my life." Davis said, bringing the pistol up to bear with a target in the distance. "Now, I already feel like a pro." He began firing off, accurately hitting the target over a dozen times, every shot within at least eight inches of the center, before stopping.

"Just remember the safety tips at all time. This is dangerous, under normal conditions I wouldn't condone letting the digidestined tote serious hardware like this days after learning how to use them." He clicked the chamber back into place, pulled the hammer back, and casually took aim. "You're right though, it's not that hard. I learned most of this gun stuff at Seven-Eleven." He pulled the trigger back, launching a salvo at the target in the distance. Almost as quickly as it left, he cocked the hammer back and fired again, causing a nearly continuous flow of bullets to emit from the barrel.

The first bullet blew a massive hole through the center of the cloth target, and all the following bullets went through the giant gap and dug into the dirt on the other side. When all eighteen shots had been fired off, he spun the revolver on his finger again and threw it down on the ground next to his M-16.

"Whoa!" Davis exclaimed, looking off at the target. "I could fit a basketball through that exit wound!"

"Wait until I use it on a digimon." Ken said cockily. "Everything's gonna be everywhere. Real nasty mess, you just wait."

Matt and Mimi came up from behind Davis and Ken, uncomfortably holding a couple of weapons.

"Oh, how's it going?" Ken asked, spinning around to meet them. "Good, I hope?" He looked behind them, where they had been practicing some five hundred yards away.

"It's...just a little awkward. I don't know how you guys are so comfortable with it, I can't seem to get it down." Matt admitted. "And I've used guns before." He carefully put a Beretta on the ground, seemingly afraid of it.

Mimi shrugged. "It's not natural for me either. And I don't exactly care much for this whole business." She said resignedly, tossing a Glock to the side.

"Don't worry, you'll get it. Or, I should say, you have to." Ken said sternly. He looked down to check his wristwatch, hanging loosely on his wrist. "It's getting late." He looked off into the distance at Joe and Cody, still firing away at some makeshift targets. "They're looking alright." Ken said. "We'll be fine." He turned back to the basket of guns, pulling out his rod. "Happiinesss...is a warm gun..." he began melodizing quietly, zapping the basket away. "When I hold you...in my arms...and feel my finger on your trigger..."

"Scary." Mimi whispered to Matt.

"A little." Davis concured, having heard it from a few yards away. "Grateful to have him around though."

"Sure." Matt said. "At least, I think."

"Happineessss...is a warm...yes it isss...guuuuuunnnnnn..." he continued to sing, even as he put the handle 2-way radio up to his lips. "Izzy, we're packing up. Meeting at my place, we're onto something."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So I did manage to find out everything the capsules are capable of. And it didn't sound like anything the Emperor wasn't capable of doing by himself. And yet, the Emperor was willing to shell out an awful lot of money to buy one. What's more, I can't help but wonder why he didn't steal one, or steal them all, or steal one and then destroy the rest." Ken spoke, sitting on the computer chair, looking around at the other digidestined seated on the bed, floor, or standing up somewhere. Mimi was on speakerphone courtesy of Sora's cellphone. "But, the relevant point is these capsules are capable of doing something the Emperor isn't."

"Maybe he's not able to create his own digimon? I mean, we've seen him combine digimon together and put parts of certain digimon on others...but never create a brand new one." Izzy suggested, sitting on the bed.

"Or it's just more economical this way? I mean, if it runs off hydroelectric power, it's definitely cheaper than him spending his own crystals. Hell, it's basically free." Tai wondered, leaning against the closet door.

"I'm thinking it's the hydroelectric power source as well. I mean, that's free power, can't top that." Davis spoke, lying on the floor.

"Perhaps. We should keep an eye out for this capsule or whatever machinations the Emperor may have created through it in the near future." Ken announced. "Anything else?"

"The Emperor has no apperant interest in recruiting digimon to fight for him." Kari said dramatically, sitting cross-legged on the floor by the door. "For whatever reason, he doesn't seem to care."

"You don't say?" Ken said, looking up at the ceiling. "Any theories?" 

"He either has no interest in recruiting, only in absorbing, believes the digimon will come to him without effort on his part after he's amassed enough power, or has something much more sinister planned." Yolei listed.

Ken rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Curious...now everyone, get home. I want credible, feasible excuses when we meet tomorrow. I want the meeting at nine in the morning, in..." he looked around at everyone, "TK's house." He pointed at TK. "You good for it?"

"Sure." TK said assuredly.

"Good." Ken pointed at the bedroom door. "Adjourned."


	8. Faustian

Chapter Eight: Faustian

"So what's the deal with wooden spoons?" Ken asked, pacing around TK's bedroom, looking at the handful of digidestined on the bed. TK and Davis sat on the edge, Kari, Tai and Izzy were cross-legged behind them. "I mean, they're wooden, and they're spoons. It's like cutting down a tree-" he mimicked the motion of sawing with his right hand "-and using it to eat your ice cream."

Davis stared blankly at Ken. Kari pulled at her sock. TK glanced at the bedroom door.

"I dunno man. I don't get it." Davis finally said. "I mean, I've never thought of wooden spoons like that, but how is it funny?"

"I thought it was pretty funny." Tai commented.

"Then why didn't you laugh?" Kari asked.

"Well...it's not _that_ funny." Tai digressed.

"I liked it." Izzy said. "Is that from Seinfeld, or did you make it up?"

"It's in the styling of Seinfeld, but I made it up." Ken responded.

"I never did watch Seinfeld." TK said. "I never really gave it a shot."

"Me either. I've always kinda wanted to, but never did." Davis mused.

"I'll let you borrow my DVDs." Ken said, pointing at Davis and TK. "It's good stuff."

A knock came at the door. TK got up and went over to it, turning the knob to admit the knocker. The door swung open to reveal Matt, Sora, and Yolei.

"What's on the schedule today?" Matt asked quickly.

"Well, first, I need some good excuses to miss school." Ken said, pulling his notebook out from behind him in his pant's waist. "Let's hear it. I've got all these guys covered." He gestured at the bed. "Or I would if Tai would hurry the hell up and get some type of disguise."

"I'm working on it." Tai growled.

"Mine was easy." Kari said happily. "I'm grieving over Tai's accident." She reached behind TK's bed and pulled up a backpack. "Look what I bought this morning." She unzipped it and pulled out a mass of black cloth. "Black dress, black hat, black socks, black shirt, black pants." She reached in further and pulled out three CD cases. "Linkin Park, Simple Plan, and Dashboard Confessional." She recited. Then, she reached into the bottom of the bag and pulled out a small pocket knife. "For those really angsty days when I just have to cause physical damage to myself." Finally, she reached in and pulled out a pair of books. "Devil Worship guides." She giggled, putting everything back into the bag in reverse order.

"Are you really going to cut yourself?" Davis asked.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing right." She said simply, leaning over the bed to place the bag back where it had been before.

Davis leaned in next to TK's ear. "Is it wrong that I'm really turned on right now?"

"Yes." TK responded into Davis's ear. "But so am I."

"C'mon guys. I need legit reasons." Ken said, pointing at Matt, Sora and Yolei.

"Okay, I'm...on a Europe tour with my band. But I'm performing in underground, small locations and will be hard to track down." Matt settled on quickly.

"I've...developed an addiction to meth, and had to go into rehab in an obscure facility in America." Sora said quickly.

"Well now _I'm _turned on." Tai said under his breath after leaning up next to Davis and TK.

"How about...I've joined an obscure religion that forbids all forms of organized education, and refuse to attend school?" Yolei said.

"Sure." Ken responded, writing everything down. "Looking good." He looked up above the door at the black and white clock. "Three minutes til nine. I think there should be a punishment for everyone who gets here late."

"Just waiting on Cody and Joe." TK stated. "They seem to enjoy each other's company alot."

"Makes sense." Tai said. "I always would have figured they'd fit together."

"Anyway, I still think there's more to find in the market." Ken said. "The groups should switch today, so that the first group recruits and the second group explores the market."

"You sure you don't want to be at the market, Ken? We might need you." TK commented.

"If something comes up, gimme a call. I think we'll be fine." Ken responded. "And I've had another thought. My crest."

"The crest of kindness?" Izzy asked rhetorically. "What about?" 

"Remember when I used it to seal off the explosion that my base was about to emit?" Ken asked. After he got a general nod from everyone, he continued. "I think I should try to retrieve it."

"Interesting thought." Tai said slowly, looking down at Wormmon. "You think Wormmon could reach his ultimate level with it?"

"That's what I hope." He bent down and picked Wormmon up from the floor. "It doesn't seem like much now, but adding an experienced ultimate to our forces would be a serious boost."

"I'll level with you guys now, I don't even know what mine is." Wormmon spoke. "I can't even promise I have one, I've never really thought of it."

"I'm sure you _have_ one." Ken comforted. "We'll see soon enough, hopefully. And I'm sure you two-" he pointed with his thumb and index fingers of his right hand at Davis and Yolei "-have crests out there as well. Cody too."

A knock came at the door. TK opened it up, admitting Joe and Cody.

"Consider yourselves lucky. Another minute and you would have been late." Ken said, mock seriousness on his voice. "I'm more than willing to forgive tardiness, but I can't speak for Necromancer Ken."

This time, Ken's joke brought on universal laughter from all in the room. Quickly, Ken pulled his D-3 from his pocket and went up to the computer, holding it out to the screen, silencing the laughs.

"It's go time." He said under his breath.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Slowly, Ken peered over the dune in the sand. There it was, just as he had left it. His old base. Laying there in the sand, slowly beginning to disappear under sandstorms. It still stood proud and strong, a testament to the terrible power he once held as the Emperor.

There was nothing else except for sand, tumbleweeds, and cactuses for miles. Nobody wanted to hang around next to what had come to symbolize evil itself, it seemed. Ken didn't blame them, he didn't want to be here either.

"I placed the crest in the core." Ken said, turning around to face the other five and their partners. "We should be cautious, I sense this place is not as empty as it seems."

Slowly, the group pulled themselves over the sandy hill and began trekking towards the fallen base.

"You don't suppose the Emperor's using it as his base?" Mimi wondered out loud. "I mean, it's more convienent than making a new one."

"As his base, no. Too obvious and probably not to his taste." His eyes narrowed as he looked off at it. "But if I know this kid, he's using it for something. We might get more than we bargained for." He gripped the top of his rod.

"It might give us a legit lead." Matt commented. "I'm sick of that damned market if I'm being honest."

"Perhaps." Ken mused. "But nothing we could find in there can be good."

A sandstorm kicked up, causing everyone to throw their hands over their faces and push on through strong winds. It felt like hail, beating down on them viciously and relentlessly. When it finally ceased, they were standing before the base's entrance.

Slowly, the group began walking through the winding, dark hallways. Nothing had changed from when they had come here to destroy it, seemingly. It was still a fairly boring place, mostly dark and lifeless. But an unmistakable aura of evil emitted from it still, and there was no doubt in Ken's mind Cory had been drawn to it for one reason or another.

They ran into no digimon or signs of life, even as the hallways widened and grew in height. It seemed completely dead.

And then, as they got closer and closer to the core, they began to hear faint screams in the air. They sounded tortured and raspy. The group froze upon hearing them, looking around wildly.

"Well, we've got signs of life." Cody said flatly. "Can we hurry up and get out of here?"

"I'm not leaving until I get my crest." Ken said.

"And we've gotta at least investigate those screams." Davis commented. "I mean, it's our duty, right?"

"Yeah." Joe said, though there was no confidence or emphasis behind his words.

Slowly, they continued, aware of the screams increasing in volume constantly. It was terrifying, but nobody wanted to be the one to suggest they turn around.

The core loomed up ahead, like the gates of St. Peter might after a long trek through purgatory. The group turned into it. And there it was.

In the middle of the room, there was a pillar-like structure, perhaps holding the room up. It was black and bore the pink crest of kindness in the middle. Ken stared at it, unsure of how to approach this.

"What makes you so sure the base won't explode after you remove it?" Matt asked.

"I'm not sure." Ken said simply, walking towards it. "That's why I have this." He pointed down at his rod.

Everyone watched with bated breath as Ken walked towards the pillar. He was just a few feet away now. He reached out with his right hand and clasped his fingers around the pink object. With a small tug, it broke away. He held it carefully inbetween his forefinger and thumb.

"Alright. Now what?" Matt asked, looking around. "I don't like this one bit."

"We've gotta find the source of that scream." Ken repeated. "I know this place is...evil, for the lack of a better word, but someone here is in pain." He pointed down one of the many hallways extending from the central room. "C'mon."

They proceeded down the indicated path, the yells growing in volume with every step.

"I'll bet it's a trap." Joe said, cautiously walking behind everyone else, as if afraid the floor might suddenly give out.

"Let him try." Ken growled. "I know the risks, but we can't be afraid of him. I have enough firepower to go against him so needed."

"We shouldn't think like that. In terms of power he's got us outgunned at least a hundred to one. Don't let that rod go to your head." Matt said.

Ken kept silence, marching down the path purposefully.

A sudden left turn brought the group to a door, only noticable because of the golden knob, as the door was as black as the surrounding walls. The scream had reached a fever pitch now, and all signs pointed towards the source being behind the door.

Slowly, Ken reached his hand out for the glinting gold, terrified of what might be behind. He talked a big game, but in reality, he hated this place just as much as anyone else.

He cranked the knob and pushed it open. Sure enough, the screams grew in decibals considerably, and the source was revealed. A Chuumon, in a small steel cage, was spinning around wildly and emitting the screams.

Ken stared at it for a moment. It had to be the most pathetic life form he had ever laid eyes on. It's fur had been torn in several locations, it's ears had been chewed off, the tip of it's nose had been ripped off, and it's eyes were stricken with red veinlines.

Then, he began to take notice of the rest of the room. It was a massive room, he couldn't remember what it had been months ago when he had run the show. There were several dozen cages of varying sizes strewn all across the floor. More disturbing were the assorted body parts and gore everywhere, almost looking as part of the decal since there was just so much of it. There were desks covered with notebooks and pieces of paper, and several metallic towers covered with flashing lights and wires lined the back wall. Some shelves, covered by wooden doors, were set up alongside them.

"This isn't...yours, is it Ken?" Cody asked.

"No." Ken breathed. "This has to be Cory."

And then, without warning, the Chuumon reached up with it's hands, grabbed it's skull, and ripped outwards. The skin that covered it's head ripped down the middle, exposing it's bony skull.

Everyone winced and turned away as blood and flesh was scattered about the cage. It gave off one final scream, and then a quiet thunk sounded off. Then, nothing.

Ken looked slowly at the cage. The Chuumon had torn it's entire skin off it's body, exposing bone and cartilage, before falling to the floor and dying. Ken swallowed hard.

"Don't look." He said to the rest, who hadn't opened their eyes yet. "What is this place?"

Slowly, everyone turned away and opened their eyes. "Can we leave?" Davis asked. "I mean, do we really need to know?"

"Yes." Ken said robotically, walking up to the desk covered with papers. "They must have kept a journal or something..."

"What do you mean?" Mimi asked, trying to avoid looking at body parts, which proved impossible.

"This is a lab of some kind. Cory was experimenting with...something. He must have tracked whatever it was he was doing, somewhere." He began pushing loose sheets of paper aside, looking for all the notebooks. He picked up one and flipped through it quickly, soon discarding it. Then another. The third try, however, something kept his interest.

"Ken, what is it?" Joe asked.

"I think this is it." Ken said dramatically. "Day One. So begins Project Faustian. The big man has demanded completion within a week, usually such a project would take months. But he's promised us all the subjects we need, and instantaneous resources. We were given a fifty gallon drum by the Emperor, filled with a glowing green liquid. He told us to begin our experiments immediately and report on any successes or failures as soon as they occured.

We brought out five subjects, five captured rookies, and began. We gave the first a half-gallon of the stuff, offering it willingly. At first, he refused to touch it, but a few minutes of coercion convinced him. He took a single sip and his eyes lit up. Before we could stop him, he had drained the entire can, and began convulsing. About thirty seconds later, he was dead of an overdose.

We distributed small cups filled with the liquid to the other four, who quickly swallowed it. We could see their muscles magnifying, their eyes lighting up, and their power levels increasing by the mouthful. We tested them in the other room. It's true. They were more powerful than before.

Almost as soon as we brought them back in, they began pining for more. At first, when we refused, they would react violently, hitting the bars of their cages and screaming. Then, they'd start to plead with us, insisting that they not only wanted, but needed more."

Ken looked around at everyone. "Oh, god." He whispered. He quickly flipped ahead several pages and picked up reading again.

"Day Five. It appears we've hit the nail on the head with Batch Number Eight. It perfectly mixes attributes of power, addictiveness, and taste. From our experiments and subjects, we have discovered that three doses of 10CCs or more will create full-on addiction. Amount of addiction is related to how quickly the three doses were given. For our one experiment who we gave glasses every three hours, if three hours passed and he didn't receive his glass, he would become violent, deranged, and insane within minutes.

Another subject received glasses every half hour. After a half hour, if no glass was given, he would immediately begin to cause a ruckus. Every single subject has fallen under the spell of this drug. The more you take and the more often you take it, the more you need and the more often you need it.

One of our earlier subjects, who we quickly addicted to the substance, then completely cut it off to, committed suicide today via slicing his throat with a tooth he had ripped out of his own mouth. It was an earlier batch of the stuff, but it's safe to say that even batch number eight would create the same amount of dependence in anyone who became addicted.

So we now have all the details we need. Whatever mix the Emperor used on batch number eight creates exactly what he wanted: a drug that tastes fantastic, is more addictive than anything I've ever seen before, and creates a pleasurable buzz of increased power.

The Emperor's final request was to build machines that would automatically convert power from his crystals into this drug, whichever one we deemed best for his needs. He wants them converted into forms for oral delivery, injection, inhalation, and suppository. We should be done and out of here in twenty four hours."

He looked up again, his lips quivering. "This entry was yesterday." He glanced down at his watch. "If his twenty four hour prediction was correct, they left here two hours ago." He threw down the book and marched over to the shelves.

"Ken...what's happening?" Matt said, voice shaking.

"This drug! This drug is why he never bothered to recruit anyone!" He hissed, throwing one of the shelf doors open, revealing several glass jugs filled with green glowing liquid, each labeled with a number from _I _to _VII_. "All he has to do now is distribute it." He continued throwing shelves open, each one revealing more vats of green liquid. "Anyone who gets so much as a sip of it will be under his thumb."

"It's terrible." Davis croaked. "A couple of days without it and they kill themselves?"

"Nicotine, Opium, Alcohol, none of that stuff even compares to what this'll do." Ken said quickly.

"Well, they have to get addicted first..." Joe said slowly, rubbing the back of his head "...maybe they'll just never start, and-"

"Joe, if someone told you that, by drinking a great tasting liquid, you could become the world's greatest doctor, would you drink it?"

"Well-"

"You would. And these digimon are going to be faced with the same decision. Even the one's we've recruited won't be able to resist." He had thrown open all the shelves, revealing only more green liquid. He began pacing around the machines like a madman, seemingly looking for something.

And then, suddenly, his hand lashed out at the side paneling on the machine closest to the door the digidestined had come through. He ripped it down, the metal sheet coming down towards the ground on hinges.

A black box was revealed to be among the wires and cables inside the machinery. A small screen flashed red numbers, currently reading out at _7:21_. Everyone stopped breathing for a moment as Ken watched it count down to _7:20._ He tried to reach out and grab the box, but his hand would not penetrate closer than an inch from it. He turned away, walking quickly towards the door.

"Bomb." He grunted loudly, prompting everyone to give pursuit. They could hear the time bomb clicking eerily from the tower as they bolted through the doorway.

Unfortunately, they were forced to jump right back in thanks to a series of blasts from digimon who had appeared out in the path while they were inside. Mekanorimon, armed with two rifles usually used by Mummymon, and Leomon boasting arms taken from Gigadramon had been waiting, and the digidestined just barely escaped their explosive wrath.

"Time to fight!" Veemon hissed, clenching his fists.

"Do what you must, but do not stop to engage!" Ken yelled to all the digimon. "Clear a path so we can leave!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

WereGarurumon, Lilymon, Zudomon, Stingmon, ExVeemon, and Ankylomon tumbled out of the doorway, strafing so they'd immediately face the threat at hand, and began their assualt on around a dozen genetically-enhanced digimon.

WereGarurumon dived right into the melee, unleashing his sharp claws and vicious kick on the closest Leomon. Zudomon fiercely crushed a Mekanorimon under his mighty hammer, sending nuts, bolts, and bent metal in all directions. Lilymon sent a nasty cannon blast into the knee of another Leomon from near the back of the group, even as a cannon blast from the Leomon's modified arms struck her in the wings.

ExVeemon tore into the action alongside WereGarurumon, using a burst of speed to plow a path through the digimon. Leomon and Mekanorimon were scattered to the sides. Ankylomon and Stingmon began beating down on the momentarily stunned enemies, buying enough time for the digidestined to run out of the lab and down the hall, past the battle. Their partners followed.

"Ken!" Stingmon cried. "Now would be a great time to give that crest a test run!"

"But how?" Ken looked around. "Maybe I have to do something kind." He suddenly grabbed Davis by the chest and picked him up, bridal style. "Here, I'll carry you the rest of the way!"

"What the-" Davis flailed around until he felt out of Ken's grip. "Hell no!"

"Fine." Ken hissed. They turned right down the path, seeing nothing but straight hallway in front of them.

Then, the ceiling fell in, and a BlueMeramon and and three Cyberdramon fell through. They had no obvious upgrades, but Ken wasn't much in the mood to find out if they had them or not.

"C'mon!" He pulled the crest from his pocket and shook it. "Please!"

"Ken, we're outgunned!" Matt yelled, running alongside him. "Do something!"

Ken whipped out his rod, pointed it down the hall, and began firing off basketball-sized energy balls, which zoomed down the path and crashed into the opposing digimon. They were clearly fazed, cowering under the power of the attacks, but far from defeated.

Zudomon sent a lightening bolt from his hammer down the corridor, further injuring the minions of the Emperor. Lilymon began rapidly firing her flower cannon down towards them. But they refused to fall, or move, or otherwise allow them passage.

They were getting very close now. Ken futilely looked up at Stingmon, then his crest, then shook his rod a few times. The half-dozen digimon began to glow as power built up within them, courtesy of Ken.

"Go!" Ken cried. They did so, charging forth and attacking with power usually not possible for any of them. WereGarurumon's wolf claw dismembered a Cyberdramon's torso from it's legs, instantly digitizing it. Lilymon's flower cannon needed just three shots to vaporize the BlueMeramon into nothing. Even ExVeemon was able to pick up one of the CyberDramon and slam him into the wall.

The path was clear. The digimon went back to their partners, quickly scooped them up, and began rapidly sprinting or flying past the out-of-commission digimon.

They were in the core room now. They took off down the hallway leading to the exit. Everyone looked up at Ken, knowing the biggest surprise was likely yet to come. He was sweating profusely, panting hard, clearly drained by the effort to charge up the digimon a moment ago.

And then, just as a small glint of light from the outside work twinkled, the floor a few dozen meters before them crumbled, and three Andromon jumped out.

Without hesitation, the digimon set their partners down and dove in, only to be repelled when the chest plates of the Andromon opened and fired off Corona Blasters from a Beelzemon.

Lilymon took a direct hit from a blast, and almost instantly fell to the ground like a rock, de-digivolving back to rookie. Ken glanced at Palmon, then at Mimi, then at his rod. He took a deep breath, then pointed the rod at Palmon. It glowed, and the digimon sprung back up and retook the form of Lilymon, but Ken fell to the follow, his clothes now drenched in sweat.

"Ken!" Cody yelled, running over to the drained comrade. "You alright?" 

"I'm not out of gas...I don't understand." He panted. "I'm just so...drained and tired."

"You're not used to exerting yourself like this." Cody said soothingly. "Give it a break."

"I can't!" He wheezed. "We've got about three minutes to get clear of this place!" Inspite of his worthy words, he couldn't get himself to stand up.

But his desperation was answered by the lords of higher powers who awarded him the crest of kindness.

Stingmon began to shine like a diamond. Everyone shielded their eyes as the insect began to take it's ultimate form.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Dinobeemon carried some traits of ExVeemon, but this version was much more leaning towards Stingmon. It had massive insect wings that beat in the air, ExVeemon's claws and tail, and Stingmon's head and body.

"Alright!" Ken cheered weakly. "We've got em now."

"Ken, it's one more ultimate. Do you really think-"

Ken put his finger to his lips, and pointed at the five other digimon, dodging Corona Blasts like raindrops. The arrival of Dinobeemon seemed to give the fighters new hope, refresh them, make them believe they might be able to win. They went on the offensive.

Dinobeemon opened with a flurry of slashes too fast for the naked eye to see. The only evidence of such a flurry taking place were the severed pieces of Andromon that lay about, which was really the most important part. Lilymon blew the leg off one of the Andromon, which was already missing three fingers and the other arm thanks to Dinobeemon. Zudomon took advantage of the short lull to charge and swing at another, crushing it viciously into the wall.

A last ditch Corona Blast hit Ankylomon right on the shell, but miraculously enough, the shell held, though it would likely need a new paint job. WereGarurumon charged in and beat on the final standing Andromon a few dozen times before slamming him into the wall with a kick, while Dinobeemon shot an energy beam into the one-legged Andromon on the ground.

ExVeemon grabbed the final Andromon, ripping him out from a dent in the wall, and cleanly snapped it's head off. With no time to celebrate, the digimon ran back and grabbed their partners, making a dead sprint for the light.

The entire place began to shake, the first set of explosions was underway. Just as they emerged out into the sunlight, a violent eruption came from the center area of the base, the flames blowing through walls and making quick apperances on the outer shell of the facility. The structure began to collapse, vital support walls caving and resulting parts crumbling.

They were clear of the base, back out in the scorching desert. Ken dared a glance back at the base, watching it implode, a massive piece of the top shell bringing great force down on the inside.

By the time they were several hundred meters from the base, it was completely crumbling in on itself. A massive wave of sand was kicked up, hitting the digimon and their partners like a tidal wave. They hit the deck, hard, feeling as if they had just ridden a roller coaster and just gotten off.

Ken rolled over onto his back slowly, looking off at the ash, dust, and scattered remains that was once his base. Everyone shook themselves off and slowly stood up. The digimon went back to In-Training, exhausted from the ordeal.

"Why'd he blow it up?" Davis coughed, looking at the base.

"He knew we'd be there." Ken said simply. "Thought he'd send us out with a bang."

"You should have taken it." Came a voice from behind them. They spun around wildly, to find Adeel standing in the desert behind them. "And I think you knew it, Ken."

"What are you talking about?" Ken huffed.

"The vial in the shelf. It was marked _VIII_, wasn't it? You read the journals, right? That was the good one." Adeel said simply, walking up to Ken.

"Why would I want it?" Ken hissed. "It's got to be the vilest, most evil thing I've ever seen, and I've seen some evil things in my day."

"Regardless, you need it." Adeel said, standing just before Ken now. "Now, the Emperor has the only sample of it in the world. When he mass produces and distributes it, all who so much as taste it will be under his command for all of eternity. Unless, of course, there's somewhere else to get it from."

Ken looked behind him at the ruins of the base. "I'll make some of my own." He said simply.

"You think Faustian was easy to make?" Adeel asked, looking at the back of Ken's head. "This isn't something you can just snap your fingers and create. It took the Emperor time and resources to perfect. I'm afraid it will even be harder for you to recreate. Then again, you don't have the resources to mass produce...do you?"

Ken turned back to Adeel. "Not a concern. If the Emperor truly does mass produce it, I'll have few problems in obtaining it myself. And as for my supplies of power..." he reached down and gripped his rod. "something will come up."

"We can hope, Ken." Adeel replied. "But now, the Emperor has a headstart. As we speak, a massive building covering three stories and towering sixty stories is being built at the base of Infinity Mountain." He looked off into the distance. "That building will be done in six hours, and all across the digital world, digimon will be lured through it's doors by the siren song of easy power."

Ken looked down at his watch, wincing. "We'll just have to destroy it then." He grumbled.

"A nice thought. But do you really believe the words coming out of your own mouth?" Adeel questioned. Ken froze, looking around slowly. "Digimon will be able to walk in, order themselves a nice dosage of Faustian in any form they'd like, and in a flash, they're addicted. This is a vision of the future the Emperor is protecting with all he has, you won't be able to scratch this facility if you tried with all you had."

"Hey." Davis finally said, approaching the pair. "Mister Doomsday, do you have any good news?"

"I'm afraid there is little good news, beyond Wormmon achieving his ultimate level. The Emperor has planned nine other facilities just like this one, to be built all over the world. Soon, no digimon will be able to resist it. Every single creature in this world will answer to his call." He said the last words slowly, his jaw moving more than it needed to emphasize.

"How do you know all this?" Ken asked, trying to hide his great concern.

"I have a source in the Black Market." Adeel replied. "Fat lot of good it does us, knowing what's coming."

"You must have something!" Ken cried out, starting to sweat again. "I mean-"

"I have nothing to offer you this time. In five days, all ten facilities will be up and running. I advise you arrange a counter to the Emperor's actions before then." Adeel said, finality in his voice. He turned away.

"I see you're still too cowardly to stay around for the show." Ken said, smiling slightly inspite of himself, holding his arms out to his side. "Or is it cowardice?"

"Why do you care?" Adeel turned his head around, looking back at Ken. "You don't even want me here." He continued walking away. Nobody tried giving pursuit.

Slowly, Ken grabbed the radio clipped onto the back of his pants. He brought it up to his mouth, bringing it to life with his index finger. "Status." He said mechanically into the receiver.

"We've got something." Came Tai's response. "All the equipment is champion-level stuff still, but we found a mercenary company. Sizable one too."

Ken grabbed his rod and shook it. "Your wallet just got considerably thicker. I want you to buy every Mercenary you can. If you need more money, call me. In fact, I want you guys to keep searching for more mercenary shops and buy every last one that you can."

"Is something up?" Tai asked.

Ken paused. "Yes. I don't want to talk about it right now, but the important part is we can't rely on digimon allying with us out of the goodness of their hearts. I need loyalty you can buy."

Tai sighed. "Alright. I'll expect the full story tonight."

"Will do." Ken said, flicking the radio off and putting it in his belt. He slowly looked around, seeing nothing but desert for miles, then sat down in the sand, looking downwards.

"Are you okay?" Mimi asked, looking down as the crouched figure.

He was breathing heavily. "I don't know what to do. Without numbers, we're dead meat. And if I know mercenaries, they won't be able to hold out on this Faustian for long no matter how much I pay them."

"Faustian." Joe repeated. "Fitting name."

"Indeed." Ken said. "How can a dozen digimon stand against the entire digital world?" He started quivering.

"Ken, calm down." Matt began. "We-"

"I will not calm down!" Ken hissed. "This is a hundred times worse than anything I ever did!" He looked up at everyone. "And anything I can ever do!" He slumped his head back over into his hands. "By tomorrow morning, the Emperor will probably already have all of File Island marching under his colors. Sure, we can hold them off for awhile, but once those other facilities get built, it's us against the world!"

"Ken, like you said yourself, something will come up. All we need is a large supply of power, and you can go step-for-step with the Emperor on producing this stuff. Then, we're right back in business." Joe said.

"Oh, I just said that to...say something! And where's this power going to come from? Besides, even if I could mass-produce the stuff, by the time I could the entire world would be so high on Faustian they'd eat me alive and never hear a word I had to say!" He fell over onto the sand, lying on his side, a bewildered look in his eye. "I should have seen this coming. I should have known he'd blackmail the world."

"Ken, if you're going to talk like that, we've already lost." Mimi said simply. "I don't care how bad an idea it is, you've got to throw something out there."

Ken wouldn't stop shaking on the ground. It looked almost as if he was about to cry, his eyes were shining and his lip was shaking. "The only thing that can save us now is megas." He managed to choke out.

"Megas?" Davis repeated. "Some of us are still working on ultimate, dammit!" He looked at DemiVeemon, trying to not look spiteful.

"If...if we had twelve megas, we might be able to make a stand. At least, we could keep ourselves alive, keep the digimon at bay. But only until The Emperor starts creating digimon with the power of megas, who knows how long that'll take." He pushed himself up, starting to recompose his stature. "But it won't be long, and when it happens, we don't have a chance."

Matt went up to Ken and helped him stand back up, then pointed at the ruins of the base. "I just watched four ultimates and two champions handily beat three ultimates with the attack power of megas. Don't tell me we don't have a chance."

"Their defenses were weak. Don't give me that. Probably an early prototype with a few bugs." Ken said. "If we can hold the Emperor at bay until my frankenstein digimon is done, then perhaps we have a fighting chance."

"That's the Ken I know and love!" Joe enthused.

"We'll never be able to last long enough unless I can get a big supply of crystals." Ken said, though hope had dared to cross his voice.

"You sound like you've got an idea." Cody said hopefully.

"Maybe." He said, color coming back to his features. "Sorry about..." he pointed at the sand where he had laid down a moment ago "...that."

"It's hard, Ken. We understand." Davis said.

"Alright then!" Matt said, clapping his hands together. "So, all we've got to do is get our digimon to mega, bypassing whatever Cory did to make it impossible, obtain a massive supply of crystals, even though Cory has a monopoly on any stash worth anything, and then actually fight Cory, even though he'll still outnumber us ten to one at best." He nodded. "When do we start?"

-------------------------------------------------------------


	9. Needles in a Haystack

Chapter Nine: Needles in a Haystack

"So basically, you're letting the poor population of File Island get horribly addicted to an extremely destructive drug for an extra hour and a half just so you can work out?" TK asked, seated on a grey cushioned chair, his arms reaching above his head, grasping a cushioned metal bar and slowly pulling it up and down. The bar was attached to a metal wire, curved around a wheelie, and was attached to a series of black stacked weights. When he pulled down, the weights came up, making the repeated process difficult.

"There's nothing we can do about the drug. That's gonna be distributed far and wide, we can't change that." Ken responded, standing a few feet away, doing dumbbell curls with a pair of orange weights. "We've got two objectives right now. Maximize the power of our partner digimon through digivolutions and find a way to obtain a large supply of power."

"What about the mercenaries?" Davis asked, laying back on a bench press bench, pushing up and down on a weighted metal bar rigged to the contraption arcing above the bench. "I thought we were gonna try and buy all of em out before Faustian hit."

"I'd rather not waste time. We might manage to get their services for awhile, but eventually they'll sell out to the higher bidder. And that will be the Emperor. It's not worth spending time on. I wouldn't expect mercenaries to be able to resist Faustian, or have any semblance of loyalty." Ken responded. "Anyway, since we're skipping school and ruining our minds, I figure we shouldn't ruin our bodies. Need to come here and blow off steam every now and then."

"Ken, I like the way you think." Davis grunted, pushing the bar upwards with great effort. "You do need to come around here sometimes. It helps."

"Definitely." TK said. "But you said so yourself." He gritted his teeth and pulled down hard, bringing the weights up. "We've got five days to a week to mount a serious counter to the emperor, or he's gonna bring the might of the entire digital world down on us. And then, either we're dead, or we're stuck in the real world sitting on our hands. Either way, the Emperor's got a free run at the digital world." He pulled down on the bar again.

"A couple hours won't make that big of a difference. Besides, this helps clear the mind. Makes us more productive." Ken said.

"Fair enough." Davis said, straining again with the bar. "No sense in derailing our entire lives just because we've got 120 hours before the world we're sworn to protect becomes a den for junkies."

"Yeah..." TK looked around at the assorted people working out at other machines. "...but I hate going out in public. I mean, I keep thinking everyone looks like Principal Lopez, or Mister Peterson. If we get spotted by anyone who's heard of our phony stories, our cover is blown. I'm supposed to be kidnapped and sold into the teenage prostitution ring. Besides, I hate wearing this clothes." He looked down at his sweaty white and green striped tanktop and extremely short gold shorts.

"I could see that." Davis mused. "You being kept in chains in a basement on a dirty cot, blindfolded every few days and driven around town to some pedophile's apartment...I can only imagine the rich and glorious afternoon you two would share."

"Does it have to be a pedophile? I mean, nobody wants to be the sex toy of some forty year old guy with a beard and potbelly. Do you suppose teenagers ever purchase afternoons of animal lust with teenage prostitutes?"

"It could happen." Ken said, setting the weights down. "What, you suppose Kari shops in the Highton View Terrace underground for sex slaves?"

TK let the weights fall back into their inactive position and leaned back. "Kari could never afford me. I'm the Prime Rib of the teenage prostitution market, not some two-bit hooker. She hasn't got two quarters to rub together."

"I had a dream like that once." Davis set the bar down on the two metal tabs near the bottom of the arc and sat up. "You know, I'm chained to the bed naked, she comes in with knee-high boots. a leather corset, and a whip." A look of bliss overtook his features. "Mmm."

"I had that dream once." TK admitted, looking around at everyone. "Then I've had it the other way around too. It's a kick, man."

"I'm sure." Ken replied, looking around at everyone. "Look, nobody's even looking at us. TK, your face is all over the news and these people don't even look twice. These people don't care. Don't worry about it." He leaned in closer to TK. "So, who could afford you?"

TK looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Sara Berrian." He said slowly, looking back down at Ken's face.

"Very nice." Ken enthused. "I like your taste. Yeah, she's got money alright."

"I heard she's got a spot reserved on Sweet Sixteen already." Davis commented, glancing around at everyone.

"I hate that show." Ken snorted. "I think Paris Hilton created it in the interest of trying to clone herself."

"What do you think she's in to?" TK asked, his eyes glazing over. "Spanking?"

"Oh, I can guarantee you'll be leaving that house with asswelts." Ken said quickly, giving a wry smile. "Your ass will look like a pepperoni pizza."

"Daddy like." TK said, his voice going low and deep.

"You guys wanna go run for a bit? I think I am." Davis stood up and began walking off towards the stairs a few meters away.

"Yeah sure." Ken got up and followed, TK close behind.

---------------------------------------------------------

"So he broke up with you because he suspected they were fake?" Kari asked, slightly bewildered, looking at Sora. "They're not even that big!" She continued to rapidly peddle the stationary bike, occasionally looking down at the electronic chart in front of her attached to the handlebars.

"I know!" Sora said bitterly. "Stupid as hell."

"Did he have any proof or reasoning behind it?" Yolei asked, from the other side of Sora, peddling fiercely on a bike as well.

"No. He just came up to me, asked me to be honest, and asked if they were real. I said yes, he got all mad and offended, then he left. Said something about them looking fake." Sora responded, the RPM rate on her bike jumping considerably as she talked.

"Who cares, even if it is? I mean, what's the big deal anyway?" Kari asked.

"I think it was an honesty thing. But seriously, Kari, would you date a guy with a fake...well, you know..."

Kari looked up at the ceiling. "I have no idea. I can honestly say I've never thought about that."

"I'd have a hard time respecting the guy." Yolei admitted. "I mean, it'd be like finding out Babe Ruth corked his bat, or Jesus Christ used special effects. Wouldn't be right."

"I guess." Kari said slowly. "Now what are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna let it be." Sora said confidently. "If he comes to his senses and comes back, fine, but I'm not chasing him."

"Yeah, that works." Yolei said. "I can't say I thought he was anything special. I mean, he was alright, but whatever."

"Yeah." Sora agreed. "Can't say I really thought he was sponge-worthy."

A moment of silence passed. "I don't get that reference." Yolei finally said. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Does sponge-worthy mean, like, someone worthy of getting involved with seriously and cleaning up after?" Kari asked. "Like, with a sponge?"

"Nevermind." Sora said quickly. "Never...nevermind."

"Isn't this great?" Kari said. "Inspite of everything going on in the digital world, we're all able to carry on with our lives and act normal."

"I'm not letting that bastard screw up my life." Sora said, peddling harder again. "That's just what he'd like to do, I'm sure, but it's not gonna work."

"That's the spirit." Yolei chirped. "So anyway, you two gonna check out the theater over the weekend?"

"I wasn't planning to. What's happening?" Kari inquired.

"They're having a crappy movie marathon." Yolei responded. "It's gonna be great, all day and all night, they're showing failure after failure." She grunted. "If it wasn't for the damned Emperor I'd spend the whole weekend there."

"I'm not paying to see a crappy movie. Especially when everyone acknowledges it's a crappy movie! That's letting the lazy directors and producers who make crappy movies win and think they can get away with making crappy movies and still make money!" Sora said, beginning to ease up on the pedals.

"That's just it! It's a celebration of crappy movies! The movies are so bad, in fact, they actually become good. The badness is actually funny, and you're laughing so hard at how bad the movie is, it becomes good." Yolei insisted.

"I won't be able to laugh at a bad movie when my mind is on how the Emperor is less than a hundred hours away from having our number." Kari said dismissively.

"Kari. Sora. How often do you get the opportunity to watch _Plan 9 From Outer Space_ on the big screen? If you pass this chance up, you will regret it for the rest of your life. Listen, I've got it all planned out. They've got a showing late saturday night, well after we get home. We'll all go together. C'mon, the worst movie ever made!" Yolei continued.

"No! I'm not paying an hour's salary to watch a crappy movie!" She stopped peddling and jumped off. "I'm going to the pool."

"Oh, dammit!" Kari suddenly hissed, jumping off the bike and crouching down on the left side of it.

"What?" Yolei asked quickly, jumping off as well and ducking on the left side of her bike.

"Leo's on the stairmaster across the room." Kari whispered. "He might have heard about our stories. I'm supposed to be emo, you're-" she pointed at Sora "-supposed to be rehabbing from a meth addiction, and you're-" she pointed at Yolei "-supposed to be at home worshipping a grasshopper."

"Those are some long odds, we barely know him." Sora shrugged.

"Calm down. If he recognizes us, we'll just pretend to be someone else. Now let's hurry up and move." Yolei began moving towards the hall which led to the locker rooms. Sora and Kari were quick to follow.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"I had the dream last night." Izzy began. "Again." The trio of he, Matt, and Tai were jogging on three consecutive treadmills in the machine room. "You know, the jellyfish flying through the air, and...and-"

"The go-kart with the glowing wheels and dancing twinkies?" Matt finished. "Yeah. It doesn't mean anything. It's one of those nonsense dreams. Stop thinking about it."

"But I keep having it." Izzy said slowly. "I mean, if it was one time, sure. But it's happened like seven times now."

"Well, it sounds like a bad trip. I really don't think you should be thinking about it too hard. Especially given our time frame." Tai said matter-of-factly.

"I had the dream last night too." Matt said, dancing his eyes around the surrounding area. "You know. The dream."

"Now _that_ dream means something." Tai said, smiling.

"I dunno about that. But, it is easy to interpret." Izzy conceded.

"Sure." Matt looked behind him at a couple of women jogging on treadmills. "Do you think women have those dreams?"

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked, looking around awkwardly.

"Well...you know how men fantasize about...women..." Matt put his hands up in front of his face, a few inches apart, then put them together, fingers interlaced.

"Yeah." Tai said slowly, looking around as well.

"Do you think...women fantasize about men..." he repeated the hand movements, his fingers interlacing before his eyes.

A few moments of silence passed, each of them looking back and forth at the two others rapidly.

"I dunno." Izzy finally said.

"That...is weird." Tai said, squinted his eyes. "I mean, maybe."

"I've always thought about that. But how do you ask something like that?" Matt mused.

"You _don't._" Tai said sternly. "Hoo boy...you don't. Okay? You don't."

"Well, what if we made an arrangement to have Sora 'accidentally' walk in on you two..." Izzy put his hands out in front of his face a few inches apart, then meshed them together, like Matt had.

"That'd pretty much be the only way to know." Matt said mystically. "So, if she kept watching, we could assume that they...liked that."

"Not really. Some people can't take their eyes off things they hate either. Like a trainwreck. You can't look away no matter how horrifying it is." Tai said.

"What the hell are we talking about?" Matt said, snickering. "I mean, what the hell?"

"I dunno." Izzy admitted. "When you let your mind wander, crazy stuff can happen, y'know?"

"Well, let's stop. This is-this is weird." Matt said quickly, slamming his fingers down on the plastic board in front of him, bringing the treadmill to a halt. "I'm out of here."

"May as well. We've got fifteen minutes until we meet in the lobby." Tai followed suit. Izzy close behind. "I gotta admit, Ken was right. I _do_ feel better."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"I just feel so stupid, y'know?" Joe said, running across the hard floor, racket in hand, catching the blue bouncing ball with a backhand and whipping it into the opposite wall. "Two hours last night, I'm destroying this guy in C.T.F. Just, destroying him. I've never done anything like this before. I've never been great at Unreal Tournament, you know? So I'm just feeling great, and I know I need to get to bed, but I don't want to mess up my mojo." He backhanded the blue ball back into the wall. "Finally, I start to wonder why he hasn't said anything the entire game, or doesn't give up and leave."

"That should have been the first clue." Cody said, nodding, forehanding the ball into the wall hard with his racket.

"I know, but I was hoping. So I check the guy's ping. It's zero! He's a bot!" The ball came zooming right at him. He neatly flipped it back towards the other side of the white room. "I've been gutting this A.I. bot alive for the past two hours thinking I was the greatest thing since sliced bread."

"Did you ever get to sleep?" Cody asked, swinging baseball style at the racquetball, flinging it across.

"Yeah...not as much as I would've liked." Joe said bitterly. "But whatever. I'll be fine."

"I'm sure." Cody watched as Joe hit the ball into the intersection between the wall and floor, killing its bounce and sending it rolling back towards them. "I just went straight to sleep last night. Too terrified about this Faustian stuff for anything else. I'm surprised I got to sleep, really."

"I know what you mean. But there's no sense in letting it turn us into emotional wrecks. I'm gonna keep doing normal stuff as much as I can." He bent down and scooped the ball off the ground. "We got five days before the digital world becomes completely overtaken by this drug. It's scary, but stressing won't do anything."

"That sounds so weird coming from you." Cody said, looking behind him at the glass door. "We should proably leave now."

"I've changed, man. The digital world does that to you." Joe said, nodding. "I have got to say, I feel fantastic."

"Definitely." Cody opened the door and peeked his head out, looking down the hallway. "We've gotta hurry up and shower. C'mon."

--------------------------------------------------------------

"So I trust everyone's feeling alright?" Ken asked, pacing in front of the ten other digidestined just outside the gym facility.

"Yeah, this felt fantastic. I'm not gonna lie." Kari admitted.

"Sure, but we should get started now." Izzy said quickly.

"Alright." Ken cast a quick look around him. "We've got two primary missions. First, we've got to find out how to get all of our digimon to the ultimate level, then to mega. We need twelve megas in five days if we want to have any hope of keeping ourselves alive after that tenth facility goes online. The second primary mission is to obtain a source of power large enough to compete with the Emperor. He's sitting on enough of the stuff to reconstruct the Great Wall of China, we're basically chasing his car, trying to catch his exhaust fumes in a butterfly net, and use it for power. We gotta change that if we wanna survive and win in the long run."

"Primary? Fancy military talk up in here." Matt said under his breath to Tai.

"We do have a secondary objective. Buy out every digimon we can to fight for us. It's just temporary, they'll jump over to the Emperor before long, but if it can buy us a few extra days it'd be worth it." Ken said thoughtfully. "But, it's just secondary, so we shouldn't go out of our way."

"Sounds good. What's the specific plan?" Joe inquired.

"Well, we've still got the black market to explore, so we'll definitely have that as our first target." Ken began. "We've got solid chances to find crests, power, and allies down there. I wouldn't rule out finding a way to unlock megas either, though I really have no idea how to go about doing that."

"Maybe we should call in some help." Yolei wondered out loud. "Talk to Gennai, maybe get the harmonious ones to come down and show this Emperor kid what's up."

"That's my emergency plan." Ken said, putting his hand out towards the group like a professional speaker. "They're safe where they are now, but if I pull them down to confront the Emperor, who knows what could happen? If something happens to them, we're really in trouble." He put his hand up to his chin. "Alright, so...Cody, Davis, Izzy, and Joe, you guys go to the market and have a look around. Move quickly, and if anything of interest shows up, give me a call. Kari, Myself, Matt, and Mimi, we're going to File Island. Alot of stuff relevant to us seems to happen there. Sora, Tai, T.K. and Yolei, go to the...let's say northeast section of Server."

"You crunched the numbers on this?" Izzy asked, looking skeptical.

"Yeah. The way I see it, we should be able to cover File Island in one day. We can move fast, each group has at least one flying digimon. The black market is hard to say since we don't know how many shops there are, but if we step things up I think three days is the worst case scenario. Server's huge, but I looked over some maps. I think one group could cover it in ten days. So, the group that starts there covers half of it in five days, the 2nd group covers four-tenths of it in four days, the third group comes in on the fourth day and gets the last part. That means the third group has the 5th day free, or we've got a third of a day to spare. That leaves room for any problems that might come up, or if we find something big that'll take time." Ken detailed expertly.

"Not alot of room." TK commented. "But it works."

"You're not accounting for the fact that, with every passing moment, more and more digimon are getting hooked. We're gonna run into them over the next five days. A lot of them." Kari said offhand.

"We'll just have to work quickly. We can't waste time fighting." Ken said simply, shrugging.

"Do we...kill the digimon?" Sora asked slowly.

"Good question." Ken said, pointing at Sora emphatically. "Tricky subject. They're perfectly good digimon under the spell of the Emperor. But of course, they'll do whatever he asks to get their fix, and junkies are usually pretty crazy individuals. So, if there's an option to simply incapacitate them, by all means take it. But..." he looked around again quickly "you gotta do what you gotta do."

"Alright." Joe said uneasily. "We should go."

"I want everyone staying in touch with everyone else constantly. I'm the only one who stands a chance against the Emperor head on, or against a particularly large force of drugged digimon." Ken said. "Alright. We're gonna go around the building into the back alley. Nobody ever goes back there, so we can use the digiport. Someone call Mimi."

The eleven began walking in a single-file line, down the sidewalk in front of the gym.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay so, Ken gave me the map he was making." Davis said, looking down at the piece of paper in his hands. "We've got twenty shops mapped out so far, so we go down to the eleventh row and get started."

Cody looked around. "We're a long way away from File Island, so I'm hoping we can avoid the junkies. It should be fairly untainted by the Emperor."

"Even so, let's be cautious." Izzy said. "This is still the black market, and I'm sure they've heard of Faustian by now. Who knows how that changes things."

"Uh-huh." Joe said absentmindedly, holding up a FA-MAS rifle. "C'mon everyone, get out the hardware."

"Do we really wanna be flashing guns around inside the shops? Looks a little menacing, don't ya think?" Cody commented, looking at the large rifle Joe was gripping.

"Menacing is the goal. We're the digidestined, this is the black market, the Emperor is scaring the living hell out of everyone. If digimon see us toting big weapons, they'll think we're serious about taking this guy down a peg." Joe insisted. "I know this is a...bit different than what you usually see from me, but I think this is something we've got to do."

"Right, right." Izzy said, looking down the long pathway into the darkness. "Everyone, let's see some firearms." Izzy de-holstered a CAR-15 from the back of his belt and brought it up to bear. "Thank god for paintball."

"If you're thinking this is gonna be anything like paintball, you might just wanna put the gun down now." Davis said airily, pulling two Ingrams out from inside his jacket. Using his index fingers, he pulled the hammers back of the Uzi on the opposite hand of the finger.

"One time I got hit in the back of the head with a marble shot from a paintball gun." Cody said nonchalantly. "Damn kids." He went over to the wall and picked up a Pancor Jackhammer leaning up against it. "Just as well, I guess I wasn't hiding this guy anywhere."

"Cody...that's your gun?" Davis asked skeptically.

"Yeah. What about it?" Cody said, casually holding the gun across his chest.

"The Pancor Jackhammer never even went into full-scale production." Izzy said warily. "Rumor is only two working ones exist in the real world. Cody, no offense, but you're..."

"I'm what?" Cody said, looking at the barrel of the Jackhammer.

"Short and small." Davis finished. "I'm sorry, but should someone of your stature really be shooting an automatic shotgun?"

"That gun fires out 12-gauge rounds at a rate of four rounds per second. How you can even_ carry_ it is beyond me." Izzy said. "When you start firing it off, the force created is gonna throw you a good few feet at least."

"Don't worry. I've already used it, these aren't exact copies of real world guns. They're lighter and faster. Never underestimate Necromancer Ken." Cody said dismissively.

"Veemon, we need some wheels." Davis said quickly, cueing his partner to take the form of Raidramon. The four, along with three partners, jumped on, and the electrically charged Armor Champion took off.

"We should give our guns names." Davis said, holding up his Uzis. "I'll call mine Stacy and Tracy. They're twins."

"Who the hell gives their guns names?" Joe asked, rolling his eyes.

"The dudes in the army and boot camp." Davis responded. "C'mon, name your gun. It really helps personalize the whole experience of using a gun."

"I don't want to personalize me blowing away poor innocent digimon." Cody said, looking down the pathway as doors flashed by.

"You know what's a beautiful name? Michelle." Izzy commented, looking at his CAR-15. "Black, sleek, balanced...I think I'll name my gun Michelle."

"Can you guys quit screwing around?" Gomamon asked impatiently. "The real thing you should be asking yourself is what cliche line will you use when you're shooting up drugged digimon."

"Well..." Davis looked up at the ceiling "...there's _Dirty Harry_."

"What's that one?" Izzy asked, looking up ahead towards doors in the distance.

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" Davis said flatly. "Well, I mean, with feeling."

"You've got..._Diehard._" Joe added.

"Yup." Cody said casually. "Maybe we should just shut our mouths and shoot. Just a thought." 

"Maybe. I'll see what I feel like when I get there." Joe said.

"Alright, first stop!" Raidramon screeched to a halt. The four jumped off onto the rock floor, three partners following.

"Raidramon, stay here and be ready to take off at a moment's notice." Davis instructed. The group went up to the bronze door with the silver handle embedded in the wall, twisted the lever, and popped the door open.

Izzy swung in first dramatically, waving his rifle around quickly. He took a quick scan of the room, right to left. The walls were lined with shelves, which were in turn lined with large white folders, creating very nearly the illusion of the walls being made of these folders. A desk stood near the back, a Divermon seated behind it, looking at the gun's barrel with wide eyes.

"Hey, hey. Do you mind?" The Divermon said grumpily. "Business is slow enough without people coming in and waving around pieces. Jesus." He looked down at the ground.

"Sorry." Izzy said quickly, lowering the weapon. "It's just...every time you turn a corner you're afraid you'll run into some digi-junkie who thinks you're standing inbetween him and his fix."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, that damn drug hasn't touched this place yet. Won't so long as I can help it. I can't make any promises, but I'd like to think the black market can't be bought out, if you get what I'm saying." The Divermon looked around at the shelves, clearly hoping Izzy would follow suit and inquire about the wares.

"We'll see. This stuff...nasty. Just wait until you see it." Izzy looked around at the shelves, moving forward to allow Joe, Cody, and Davis to file in. They all kept their guns out, but allowed them to hang around their shoulders by the strap.

"What's all this?" Cody asked, looking at the shelves.

"Oh. Here at Divermon's Information Shack, we sell information. Simple as that. You got something you wanna know about anything in the digital world, odds are we've got it on file." He gestured at the walls of shelves. "If we don't, we can track it down."

"Alright, nothing to see here." Davis said dismissively, spinning around. "Let's move out."

"Hold it." Izzy said suddenly. He walked up to the desk slowly, looking around at the shelves. "How long does this market extend down the tunnel?"

"I've memorized that one." He said happily. "There are a total of fifty-four shops, so twenty-seven rows. You're on the eleventh row, twenty-first shop. Now, that one's free, but anything else is gonna cost you."

"Freebies in a black market?" Cody said, looking around shadily. "How nice."

"Yeah, business is slow. I mean, competing with fifty-three shops..." he shook his head. "Anyway, anything you guys would like to know?"

Izzy licked his lips, glancing about. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, but..." he reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a pen. "You got some paper?"

"Uh-huh, sure." He reached below his desk into a drawer, pulling out a pad of paper. He set it down on the desk before Izzy.

Izzy began rapidly writing on it. "There's alot of stuff I'd like to know, so it happens." The Divermon watched his fingers work like a well-oiled machine on the paper. "I'm going to make a list here. If you can answer all the questions on the list...well, there's something really nice in it for you."

"Well, I can't give you an estimate until I figure out what the information is and how much it's worth. And if we don't have it, it's gonna cost even more, and-" The Divermon began.

"I've got money." Izzy interrupted. "Just send me the bill." He slid the slip of paper across the desk. "I'll be back tonight, hopefully. If you can answer all of that, you'll never have to work another day of your life again." He spun around on his heel and went for the door without another word. Awkwardly, Davis, Joe, and Cody followed.

"Well, that was nice." Joe said after the group had walked back out into the cave and shut the door, though he didn't sound particularly thrilled.

"Maybe a little too nice. You think he's good for it?" Cody mused out loud, looking at the door.

"He doesn't have our money yet, so it's worth a shot." Izzy looked down the cave, hand over his mouth. "Lemme see...thirty-three shops left." He took a quick glance at his wristwatch. "It's eleven fourteen. So if we want to punch out at five, that's one shop every ten and a half minutes or so."

"If we could finish it all today, that'd completely change our time budget. We'd end up having an entire day surplus." Joe said excitedly.

"As long as there ain't any lines, we can pull ten and a half minutes." Davis said, jumping on Raidramon's back.

"We're the only one's I've ever seen here so far, so I think the odds are looking good." Izzy said, following Davis up onto Raidramon. "I'll be counting the seconds. Let's get going!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, but he knew it couldn't last." Ken sang, happily spinning around on his heels and doing cartwheels as he walked with the rest of the group.

"Maybe Davis _was_ right." Matt said, watching Ken energetically dance about. "I think he is gay."

"Not a chance." Kari said quickly. She then leaned up right next to Matt's ear and began whispering. "When we met in his room two days ago, there was a dirty magazine in the corner. He's straight as an arrow."

"I know a guy in America who's bisexual." Mimi said casually, looking to her left into the forest of trees. "You think that might be it?"

"Eugh. I hope not." Matt squinted his eyes at Ken, who had entered a handstand on a smooth, large rock up ahead.

"Get back. Get back." He folded up into a somersault. "Get back to where you once belonged."

"I don't think that's how it goes." Matt said, stopping Ken mid-dance.

"Then what is it?" Ken asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I dunno, but I don't think that's it." Matt responded, falling into step with Ken as he caught up with him.

"If you don't know what it is, who are you to say that it's wrong?" Ken said, his eyes constantly darting about.

"I'm just saying. Look it up sometime, I don't think that's it." Matt shrugged. "I don't really care. What's up with you anyway? You're acting like a guy who just lost his virginity." Suddenly, his eyes went wide and he stared at Ken. "You _didn't_...did you?"

"Of course not." Ken said, snickering. "I fell asleep last night listening to _Let It Be_. I've been in a hell of a mood all morning, but I'm not inclined to sing in a gym. If you get my meaning."

"Absolutely. One time I was humming the beat from _Kashmir_ on a treadmill, and after a few minutes someone came over and hit me in the back of the head with a medicine ball. Said I was driving him nuts. You know, a few months later, he tried to sue me. Said I got the song stuck in his head, he couldn't do anything because he couldn't focus. Weird stuff." Matt nodded his head. "But he didn't win. I bought him a nice set of albums as sort of a parting gift."

"That's good-"

"Hey." Kari said from behind the pair. She and Mimi were just a few steps behind. "If we could hold the talk for a second, Izzy's sent a message." She pulled up her miniature computer screen from the d-terminal in her hand. "He says the timetable's been bumped up. He says if he can average ten minutes a shop, he can finish the whole thing today. Plus, he's found an information shack that could blow this whole thing wide open."

"Excellent." Ken said, rubbing his hands together. "That gives us plenty of extra time."

"Nice to see you're doing so well." Mimi said, looking at Ken oddly. "Did Mister Doom and Gloom pack up and leave?"

"No point in being negative all the time." Ken said airily. "We should start a flyover of the island if we want to make good time. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to get my wings."

"What, so you can fly?" Matt said, watching Ken reach into his pants' pockets. "Three of us have flying digimon, you don't have to-"

"No, this could be fun." Kari said excitedly, watching Ken dig around. "I get to hold onto his ass!" She cried out.

"Oh, c'mon! Please!" Mimi interjected.

"No me!" Matt said suddenly, without thinking. "I mean-dammit!" He kicked at the ground.

Suddenly, Ken pulled out a mini-CD player and a small album case. The front cover showed several men in black suits crowded around each other, a large spotlight focused in on them. He popped the casing open, pulled out a small CD, popped the top of the CD player with his thumb, slid the CD in, and slapped it back closed. He whipped out a pair of folded-up earphones, folded them out, and snuggled them onto his ears. He grabbed onto the wire trailing from the left ear, went down it until he was gripping the small black and gray plug at the end. He shoved it into the small CD player, into an outlet on the right bottom corner. "Baaannd on the runnn...baaannd on the runnn..." He began singing.

"Uh-huh." Matt said nonchalantly. "That's nice."

"Can I still hold onto his ass?" Kari asked sardonically.

"Well the undertaker drew a heavy sigh, seeing no one else had come." Ken continued to melodize. "And a bell was ringin' in the village square, for the rabbits on the ruuunnn..."

"It occurs to me we are in the belly of the beast." Matt said loudly, right next to Ken's ear. Ken pulled down the earphones around his neck. "Should you really be distracting yourself like that?"

"Hey, I might have five days left to live. If I wanna listen to Paul McCartney, I'm listening to Paul McCartney." Ken replied tartly, moving to put the earphones back on.

"And the jailer man! And Sailor Sam!" Came a tune from inside the trees to the left. In an instant, all four digidestined had pivoted towards the source, whipping out an assortment of powerful guns, going down to one knee. The partner digimon followed suit, getting down in battle-ready crouches. "We're searchin' eveerrryyyoonnneeee..." sure enough, Cory emerged from behind a thick tree, casually spinning about. "...for the baannnddd on the ruunn-"

"You ever record yourself singing and listen?" Ken asked, whipping his rod out in his left hand and taking aim at the Emperor, even as his right hand held the M-16. "Because you suck."

"I'm hardly interested in commercial success. I sing because it's fun." Cory said simply, waving his hand dismissively. "It's a nice album, really. I think the title track gets overplayed a bit, I enjoy Jet and 1985 more."

"I like Let Me Roll It best personally." Ken said, smirking. "Check the hardware, boy. You like?" He gestured with his head at the M-16. He quickly reached for his neck with his rod hand, pulling the earphones off and casting them to the side along with the player.

"It's a nice gun." Cory admitted, shrugging. "It hardly gives you the right to show your face around here. This is my territory now. My facility's been open for twelve hours, and already over half the island answers to my call. By this time tomorrow, the entire island will be mine. I'm afraid you're too late."

"That's a shame." Ken hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to watch this." The Emperor nodded slowly. "I thought you'd be smart enough to stay away from this place. But now that you've shown up, undermanned might I add, I thought I'd watch up close."

The tip of Kari's Sturmgewehr 44 exploded in a fiery rage, a stream of led pouring from it, flying through the air at high speed at Cory. However, the bullets died in midair right in front of him, falling to the ground harmlessly.

"You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" Cory said smugly, looking down at the wasted bullets. "Kudos for actually pulling the trigger though. Not everyone is capable of firing on live targets."

"What is it you want to watch, exactly?" Ken asked, glancing around quickly.

"As of..." he pulled up his right arm sleeve and looked at a wristwatch "...just about five seconds ago, an announcement was released in my Faustian den to all my members. Four members of the digidestined are on the island, and I'm closing off my storages of Faustian until they're dead. So in a couple of minutes here...do I really need to say what will happen?"

"Jackass." Matt muttered under his breath.

"As you saw back at the lab, these digimon will be deranged and are more than willing to die in their attempts to kill you." Cory continued, ignoring Matt.

"Why the warning?" Ken asked, still not taking his gun or rod off Cory.

"That isn't your concern." Cory said shortly. "Now be grateful you have the warning and leave." He spat.

Ken licked his lips slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I don't think so. I think we'll stick around and see how your junkies stand up to the digidestined." He threw in a smirk.

A flash of anger, perhaps discomfort, passed Cory's face. Ken saw it clearly, like one might see an elephant in the middle of a family of mice. He had been watching for it. A split second later, it was gone, but Ken had what he needed.

"If that's what you want." Cory said, shrugging. And then, in another uneventful split second, he was gone.

"Cha-ching!" Ken said excitedly, standing straight up. "We've hit gold!"

"What are you talking about?" Mimi asked, whirling her head about, awkwardly pointing her Sako M90 wherever she looked.

"Cory. He wanted us to leave. He didn't want us to stay here. There's something here. Something he knows we want and could use against him. Something big!" Ken said excitedly, though he to was pivoting back and forth like a tornado.

"Why would he want us to leave when he has the chance to kill us?" Matt asked quickly, starting to sweat. "Can we please leave?"

"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't have complete faith in ability to actually kill us. He'd rather us leave, make sure we don't get whatever it is that's here." Ken said, twirling his rod around. "We're not going anywhere. Not a chance." He grinned psychotically. "I'm not leaving until we get whatever it is the Emperor doesn't want us to get. Besides, a lack of confidence isn't one of his usual traits. Whatever he's throwing at us, we're throwing it back."

Matt gulped loudly. "You're the boss." He gripped the upper barrel of his Thompson Sub Machine Gun hard, his knuckles going white.

"We should get out of the forest. Too easy to get amushed or attacked from behind." Kari blurted, taking off down the path at a sprint.

"You heard the girl." Ken said simply, giving pursuit. Mimi and Matt followed.

"Does it bother you? We're the elders, and a good few years older than both of them, but they're the one's...taking charge." Mimi commented as they ran.

"I thought about shooting first, but...y'know, I thought about actually killing someone, and it was hard." Matt admitted.

The rows of trees ended quite suddenly, as was the nature of File Island. Almost instantly, they had landed right in the middle of a snowstorm. The white flakes were blowing to the south fiercely, riding a nasty wind, nearly blinding the digidestined. After a moment of attempting to see through the storm, Ken shook his rod. The wind died down instantly, thus causing the flakes to begin slowly floating straight down towards the ground.

"Everyone, get ready to shoot! And I want ultimates!" Ken yelled.

At that moment, a collection of brush near the edge of the forest shook violently as a Betamon emerged from it. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in Ken's smooth motions as he pointed the barrel at the enraged digimon, pulled back on the trigger, and blew a dozen led balls through the digimon's flesh. The impact threw the corpse back as blood poured from impact and exit wounds. It hit the ground, already long dead.

Silence came next. The snow continued to fall. Kari, Mimi and Matt looked at, then a the Betamon corpse, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

And then, the entire forest shook. Dozens on dozens of digimon jumped from the limbs of trees and the undergrowth of the ground. They roared and growled, having reverted back to a feral state in their addiction, all humanity gone.

Then, the day sprung to life to the tune of a quartet of automatic weapons opening fire.

--------------------------------------------------------

"This is stupid!" Yolei yelled over the gale-force winds as the four digidestined and their three partners rode on the back of Aquilamon. "For all we know, whatever it is we need to find is microscopic! We can't expect to find anything by doing a flyby!" The group was looking down at the portion of Server that had been set aside for today. "We need to be going over every inch with a comb!"

"We don't have time for that!" Tai insisted. "Izzy was very specific in his instructions! He even gave Aquilamon the exact miles per hour he had to fly at in order to finish with one portion a day! I'm not just going to ignore all that work!"

"If whatever it is we're looking for is big enough to be spotted from up here, we wouldn't be looking for it! Unless there happens to be a Digi-Great Wall of China that can provide us with what we need, we're wasting our time!" Yolei continued to argue.

"It's two hundred feet! Maybe you just need to have your eyes checked out!" T.K. shouted flatly, peering down towards the ground. "It's not like we're in orbit. Now start looking!"

"Also, we need at least some sort of idea what we're looking for!" Yolei continued. "I mean, maybe the blades of grass down on that field happen to hold massive amounts of power, or those liliacs can allow digimon to reach the ultimate level, how are we supposed to know we've found it even if we do find it?!"

"We just have to hope it's unusual. Attention-grabbing. This is all we can do." Sora said calmly.

"We're looking for something very old." Agumon said. "Like a temple or something. From what I know about this world, most things regarding digivolutions involve doing something in an old temple. Like lighting a candle, or flipping a switch."

"For real?" Tai asked incredulously.

"It's a metaphor." Agumon said simply. "The point is, we probably just have to supply power to something that's probably in an old building or cave. Something."

A light roar sounded through the air, but nobody paid any heed. It sounded like the wind. After several seconds, however, the roar began to pick up in volume. Finally, as it approached the volume of a bulldog growling, everyone turned their focus to the right.

They should have turned sooner. Looming right there, smoke emitting from the tail as it rocketed towards Aquilamon, was a Dark Shot Missile. The orange blur was on collision course with the crew.

Panic finally hit. Yolei instinctively slammed her first down onto Aquilamon's back. "Fly!"

Instinctively, Tai reached inside his jacket and pulled out his Beretta. Gripping it tightly, he extended his arm towards the speeding missile and pulled back on the trigger. Bullet after bullet shot from the mouth of the small pistol as he held the lever back against the grip.

The bullets flew into the missile's orange casing, deflecting off harmlessly. However, one of Tai's wild shots hit near the nose, which was pressure-sensitive to ignite the explosion on impact. As it registered the force of the bullet's impact, the casing blew off under the force of a massive explosion inside. The missile erupted into a fireball, growing quickly in midair, threatening to engulf the four digidestined and four partners.

Aquilamon gave a great burst of speed, attempting to escape the wrath of the fire, but it wasn't humanly possible to outrun an explosion. The orb of destruction engulfed the crew. Before they could even begin to mentally prepare, they squeezed their eyes shut and awaited incineration.

But all that came was a sticky blast of cool fluid, like a powerful tidal wave of kool-aid. The blast was still powerful enough to blow Aquilamon out of the sky and send him spiraling towards the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Tai screamed as they went tumbling towards the field below.

"Strawberry!" Yolei yelled back.

"What the-" Tai began, but Aquilamon suddenly violently righted himself, causing everyone's head to spin as if they had just gotten off a roller coaster.

"Oh, jesus!" TK yelled, gripping hard onto Aquliamon's feathers. "It is strawberry!" He was looking down at Aquilamon's back, spying a collection of a red, sticky substance. "Crushed strawberries!"

"What the hell?" Tai groaned. He began to wipe himself down, serving only to spread the strawberry goo all around his body. His entire back and head was covered. "You suppose the Emperor thought we were allergic?"

"This isn't funny! Strawberry doesn't come out easily!" Yolei moaned, trying to scrape the substance off her pants.

"You know this how?" TK asked wryly, waving his hat in midair madly, throwing strawberry goo everywhere.

"Cherry bomb, strawberry pie, you know the rest." She said quickly.

"I hate to interrupt, but we need to land." Tai said suddenly, looking off towards the missile source with his telescope. "He brought friends."

"Any chance they're packing peach and cherry? I could make a nice fruit platter." TK said sarcastically.

"TK, I'm gonna need you to stop talking." Sora said warningly, looking down at her shirt, covered in red goo. "Say another word and I'll put my foot up your ass."

"Down, down!" Tai repeated, pointing down towards the ground.

"No, stay up!" TK yelled suddenly, bringing his HK33 automatic rifle up to his chest. "He wants us to land, delay our timetable! Keep looking, I'll deal with this." He pulled a small scope out from his chest pocket, slid it into a slot on the top of the rifle and brought it up to his eye.

"Don't miss!" Tai warned. "Aquilamon, nevermind. Keep going."

"Is anyone else not okay with the fact that our lives are in the hand of a prepubescent boy who's firearm training comes from Counterstrike?!" Sora said, her voice a few octaves above normal.

Nobody spoke for a few seconds.

"I'm not saying anything. Last time we played he racked up like 24 kills in five minutes. I got no place to talk." Tai grumbled.

Then, a series of seven shots were squeezed off into the distance from TK's gun, ringing loud in the air. The group watched as one of the missiles exploded in midair, the fiery orb engulfing and destroying the other missiles.

"Very nice." Sora conceded.

"I'll keep an eye out for more. You guys keep looking." TK said gruffly.

"Too bad Kari can't see you like this, eh?" Tai said, snickering.

"Your mom saw me like this last night." TK shot back tartly.

Tai looked off, mouth halfway open, into the distance. "Well, that was _completely_ uncalled for." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeeaahh...that's what she said." He said casually, still looking off through the scope into the distance.

"Jesus." Tai groaned, turning his attention back down towards the ground.

"Just messin wit ya." TK said. "I love the smell of gunfire in the morning."

"I think you and Ken have a gun fetish or something." Yolei said, glancing at TK's back. "Weird as hell."

-------------------------------------------------------

A psychotic Geckomon jumped up and clawed at Ken's back, slashing away fabric and flesh of Ken's shirt. Ken groaned in pain, spinning around and clubbing the Geckomon with the butt of his rifle. As it fell away, he shot several rounds into it, peppering it with small holes that quickly began to spew blood.

The snow was littered with the bloody corpses of various digimon, ranging from in-trainings to ultimates. Even further disturbing the peace and serenity of the snow-covered region were the dozens of still-alive digimon, juiced up on steroids and desperate for another hit, encircling the four digidestined and their partners. Without regard for their own safety, or for possible strategy that could increase the chances of their success, the digimon dove in to attack like tidal waves of digital flesh.

The four digidestined held out their automatic weapons, razing anyone who got within the crosshairs of the gun with a stream of bullets. Thanks to a trial by the fires of hades himself, Mimi and Matt found themselves having little problem blowing new holes in these drug-addicted digimon.

The four partners, DinoBeemon, Angewomon, WereGarurumon, and Lilymon, made rounds through the sea of digimon, dealing out brutal justice to anyone who got in their way.

A Leomon charged on Mimi, fists out and ready to lay down nasty punches. Without thinking, which was really the whole trick to using guns, she pointed the barrel at the chest of the Leomon and fired. The gun erupted with the usual _brt-brt-brt_ staccato sounds, sending led balls through the torso and out the back of the Leomon. The force of impact stopped the forward momentum of the digimon, then began to throw him backwards. Several bullets finally ripped through the heart, sending the Leomon to the floor, blood pumping through chest wounds with every heartbeat. As soon as that threat was dealt with, of course, another would arise, in this case a Pixiemon slamming his wand over her head.

Angewomon hovered from high above, shooting her celestial arrows down like raindrops on the crowd of junkie digimon. Her glowing pink arrows embedded themselves into the chest of a Meramon, instantly melting the flame-type digimon into nothingness. Like a faucet of death, arrows continued to rain down from the sky into the chests of the desperate digimon, dispatching death to all they crossed. Lilymon fired her flower cannon into the face of a Phantomon three times, draining her momentarily but completely blowing the head of the Phantomon off.

Kari, bleeding from her cheek and left abdomen already, was pivoting and dancing about coolly, unleashing her Sturmgewehr 44 on anyone who got in her way. Inspite of the heat of the battle, Matt couldn't help but watch her with one eye, impressed with how she was handling this extremely difficult situation.

Of course, Matt needed both eyes to blow down the Kuwagamon with his Thompson. After shooting the beast in the eyes and distracting it, Weregarurumon came in with a vicious kick to assist in finishing the job.

DinoBeemon began his quick dance through the crowd of digimon, slashing quickly at anyone who got in his way. Too fast to follow with the naked eye, all one could do was follow the trail of digimon who collapsed to the ground with gashes along their body. The Faustian addicts clearly stood no chance against the digidestined, even with the augmentations of the drug, for they were far too disorganized and still too weak. Nevertheless, they didn't even think about diving in and attacking.

"How many are there?!" Mimi yelled, even as she poured smoking led into the body of a DemiVeemon.

"More than I can bother to count!" Ken yelled back, bringing his rod up to bear. "Hold on!" He waved the rod down through the air quickly, waited a second, then brought it back up. An explosion rocked the forest area, uprooting trees and foilage. A chorus of screams indicated that quite a few digimon had been hit by the blast. Ken spun to his left and pointed at a large snowbank, bringing about a similar explosion that sent digimon flying through the air. He continued to pivot around to the left, stopping at short intervals and invoking further eruptions of fire. With every blast, more corpses, blood and guts littered the battlefield.

Finally, Ken had ravaged the entire surrounding area with explosions, dealing with a vast majority of the digimon which had crowded around for a shot at them. After the final blast sounded, Ken collapsed to the group, panting, covered in sweat.

"Ken, you alright?!" Kari exclaimed, constantly casting around looks for further digimon.

"Yeah!" He forced out. "Clean up!" He put his head down into the snow, trying to catch his breath.

With just a few scattered digimon left, it was simple mopup duty. Kari razed the landscape with speeding bullets, kicking up snow wherever she shot, occasionally throwing in a splatter of blood when she hit a digimon. Mimi and Matt followed suit.

Then, it was over. Half of File Island lay dead at the hands of the digidestined, in the snow, slowly sinking through to the ground. Everyone froze for a moment, looking around at the carnage, then Matt ran over to Ken.

"You alright man?" He asked quickly, grabbing his back and rolling him over. "A half dozen explosions and you're half-dead? This could be a problem."

Ken, still panting like a dog, weakly pointed his rod up into the air. Swirls of data came down from all around and entered the orb at the tip, causing the glass sphere to glow for a few seconds before settling down.

Kari and Mimi approached the two, investigating themselves for injuries. Mimi was bleedy savagely from her thigh and side of her head, Kari still from the cheek and abdomen.

"Ken, use the rod!" Kari encouraged. "You can use it to revitalize yourself, can't you?"

"Isn't that sort of a contradiction? Using the rod, which drains him of energy, to re-energize himself?" Matt mused, looking down on Ken's clothes, which had gained five pounds from sweat.

"Kinda." Ken wheezed out, closing his eyes and leaning back. "I could do it, but it'd take alot of power." He took a deep breath. "I'll just...take a nap." He began to doze off.

The digimon crowded around, taking their rookie forms once again. Wormmon crawled up next to Ken, his face falling as he looked down on him as he fell to sleep. "Poor Ken." He moaned.

"The Emperor doesn't have to take power naps inbetween his usages of energy." Mimi looked off into the distance. "This isn't fair."

"He talks about it sometimes. At night." Wormmon began. "His reserves of power are so small, he puts a great strain on his body in an attempt to conserve it. The Emperor has such a large storage he doesn't have to think about conservation. Or that's what he believes."

"Let's not forget the rod is artificial. The Emperor's command over power is natural." Matt added. "We don't have time to sleep. Now what?"

Kari looked around at the snow. Though it was now clean and seemingly undisturbed, it still carried the weight of hundreds of dead digimon. She swallowed hard. "Wake him up and tell him to juice up. Whatever he has to do, it doesn't matter. More digimon could come at any second, and we have to keep moving."

Matt began shaking Ken vigorously. Slowly, his eyelids began to flutter open. "How many holes does it take to fill the Albert Hall?" He asked dreamily.

"What?" Kari asked as Ken shook his head violently.

"Nothing." He said quickly. "I thought I said I wanted to take a nap."

"Use the rod." Kari commanded. "Whatever it takes, just do it. We don't have time."

"Y'know...some of us...have to think about...saving power." Ken said stiffly, his breathing still labored. "Don't tell me...what to do."

"Just do it! Everything's moot if we can't acquire a large source anyway, so you might as well." Matt said.

"Very well." Ken huffed. He took a deep breath, then listlessly waved the rod in the air. A green glowing ring expanded outwards from the orb. Ken, immediately within the perimeter of the ring, was suddenly drier than the Sahara, and was no longer working hard to get air into his lungs. As the ring expanded out to Kari, Mimi, Matt, and the digimon, they too found their minds, bodies, and spirits rejuvenated as bloody wounds disappeared and new life was seemingly pumped into their brains.

"Alright. Now what?" Matt asked, looking down on his suddenly impeccable white shirt and blue pants.

"The island should be clear for the most part now. Unless Cory gets directly involved. There's something here he doesn't want us to have. We're not leaving until we have it." Ken instructed. "And we better hope there aren't many addicts left, because I'm starting to run low." He gave the rod a shake.

"Right." Matt said. Trying not to think too hard about what they had just done, the group trotted off through the snow.

---------------------------------------------------------------

_Several Hours Later..._

"Well, that was pleasantly productive." Izzy said happily, slamming the door back into it's groove in the wall. "The entire black market has now been effectively scouted, we've purchased the temporary loyalty of about two thousand mercenaries, and now..." he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled a small purple notepad out halfway, showcasing it to Cody, Davis, and Joe. "...we might just be able to blow this whole thing wide open."

"How much was the charge?" Davis asked, glancing at the door Izzy had just emerged from.

"Nine million." Izzy said indifferently. "It's no thing though, Ken can generate money like it's nothing. To him it's just paper with funny symbols on it."

"So we're done." Joe said, relieved. "What's the time?"

A short pause followed as Izzy checked his watch. "Seven Forty Five."

"We would have made good time if it wasn't for the stupid DemiDevimon in the shroom shop who only spoke Chinese." Davis lamented. "We spend half a goddamn hour trying to translate what he's saying only to find out all he's got is magical fungi."

"You know what would have been great? If we left after seeing all the mushrooms on the shelves, like _I_ said." Cody said bitterly.

"I thought they might have been bombs!" Davis protested.

"Actually we lost the most time with that Monzaemon who wouldn't stop talking about marshmellows." Izzy recalled. "I still think we should have pumped his gut full of led and moved on, that took like an hour."

"Hell no. That Monzaemon was a valued black market customer. If we kill him we alienate the entire market."

"Yeah, yeah." Izzy grumbled. "I wanted to be out of here by five. Goddamn time wasters."

"So can we leave now?" Joe asked. "We've managed to map out the entire market without running into a single enemy, and well ahead of schedule might I add. Our luck has been running just a little too long."

"Sure. Tomorrow we'll probably stop by and buy out every weapon and armor shop for the hell of it. And I've made arrangements to pick up our mercs at about noon tomorrow, so-"

Suddenly, the cave shook violently, knocking clumps of dirt and rock from the ceiling down to the ground. The digidestined and their partners nearly fell over.

Davis spun around, looking down the cave. In the distance, he could make out the smoke and flame of an explosion. Another, a few meters closer to the group than the last, erupted a second later, bringing even more debris down on the cave floor. In the areas close to the explosion, entire portions of the walls and ceiling began to collapse in.

"Does this cave have an exit at the other end?" Cody asked, starring down the tunnel as yet another explosion rocked the cave, continuing the cave-in process.

"Cave goes for several miles after the shops end." Izzy said, trying to remain calm.

Davis took in a deep breath as more explosions, each one getting closer to them than the last, rocked the cave and brought down tons of dirt and rubble to the cave floor. "Oh crap." Was all he could think to say, a mortified, deer-in-the-headlights expression overtaking his features.

Armadillomon jumped into action, morphing into his Digmon form, even as the explosions threatened to bring the entire cave down around them. He began to spin his drills, sticking them deep into the ground, drilling a hole through the rock.

"Everyone grab on and hold your breath!" He cried as he began to disappear into the ground. Silently, everyone complied, still unable to look away from the approaching explosions. In a flash, Digmon disappeared into the ground, burrowing at great speeds.

The four digidestined and three partners had deathgrips on Digmon's back, shutting their eyes tightly against the sea of dirt they were cutting through. After going down a few meters, Digmon cut right and went to the side for a few short seconds before turning upwards. They could feel the explosions cause a vibration through the layers of sand and rock, no doubt destroying the entire black market. The connotations of this hadn't yet occured to them, as they were desperately trying to hold air in their lungs.

Digmon kept hitting segments of rock, slowing his progress as he attempted to drill through or go around. Slowly, upward progress was made, but nobody was even sure how deep they were.

After forty seconds of drilling, Digmon finally hit air, coming up like a daisy in fast motion in the middle of a grassy field. As soon as the dirt was cleared, everyone stumbled out and took massive gulps of air.

"Crap!" Izzy choked out inbetween breaths, trying to avoid falling over. "So...much for the...market!" He panted.

"Are you kidding me?" Davis wheezed, walking around with his hands on his head. "How about you be grateful you're alive?"

Izzy took several big breaths before attempting to talk, brushing a layer of dirt off his clothing. "That market was our ticket to cheap firepower! Plus, I don't know if we can get our mercs now!" He spat at the ground, unleashing a dirt-filled loogey. "Yeah I'm alive now, but without the firepower and manpower I was anticipating to have we won't be alive long!"

"Screw it." Joe said resignedly, taking off his jacket. "Let's punch out and discuss this later." He began violently shaking his jacket, creating a large dirt cloud. "I got this from the Men's Warehouse two days again too."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"This place looks...familiar." Matt commented, looking through the hole in the wall, down a skinny bridge that extended all the way across the room. The room was massive, curving up into a cone the closer it got to the top, an ocean of lava below, bubbling violently.

"Yeah it looks exactly like Mount Doom from _Lord of the Rings._" Ken said, walking out onto the pathway. "Except the bridge goes all the way across."

"Careful!" Mimi interjected, watching Ken walk out onto the bridge. "It doesn't look very strong."

"I'll go by myself." Ken said confidently, strolling ahead. "Can you guys keep an eye out and yell if something comes up?" He pointed at Wormmon emphatically. "Stay." He commanded, anticipating Wormmon would object.

"Uh-huh." Kari said, glancing around inside the massive lava room. "What a place. I don't think I've ever seen it before."

"For all the times we've scaled infinity mountain, we never thought to check inside the place." Mimi added. "They shouldn't hide the entrance so well."

"There's a reason it's hidden." Ken yelled back, over the roar of the flowing lava. "What we seek is here, I'm willing to bet my computer on it."

And then, as if on cue, a hand emerged from the lava below, the arm extending at great speed up towards the bridge. Ken glanced down and watched it stretch up and up, until the hand was parallel with Ken's waist. Just a few feet from him, balled in a fist, Ken watched the hand, moving his hand to grip his rod.

"The lady of the lava?" Ken muttered, watching the hand slowly unfurl. Slowly, three crests revealed themselves to be sitting in the palm of the hand. "Finally something in this world's that's easy." He glanced about, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The hand came closer and closer, almost too slow to see. Ken slowly began to reach out for it as well, waiting for it to come within his grasp.

And then, they were right there. Ken blinked and shook his head, the heat from the lava below starting to get to him.

His fingers lashed out and grabbed the trio of crests, and then he took off at a dead sprint back down the path. The arm quickly disappeared back into the depths, and the room began to quake violently.

An AncientGreymon emerged from the bubbling lava as soon as the arm disappeared, soaring up to the bridge above. Kari, Matt and Mimi saw it and stepped out onto the bridge. "We've got company!" Matt called out, pulling out his rifle.

Ken, still sprinting, pulled out his rod. He glanced downwards and saw the AncientGreymon. "There's always gotta be something!" He growled.

"You running hot?" Kari asked, aiming her own gun downwards. Gatomon, Wormmon, Palmon, and Gabumon peered over the edge as well, ready for battle if it was needed.

"Hot enough!" Ken responded. "Let's see some ultimates! We'll all attack at once and hope that buys us enough time to escape!"

The skinny bridge began to crumble. AncientGreymon had attacked it, and the cracks in the rock were quickly catching up with Ken. He was almost back to the entrance, but he could feel the surface below his feet falling. He threw himself onto the small ledge before the bridge began, rolling towards the entrance to ensure he wouldn't be dragged down with the rubble.

"You alright?" Mimi asked, aiming her gun at the AncientGreymon, which was hovering before them where the bridge had been a moment ago.

"Yeah." He groaned, getting to his feet. He saw the partners glow as they began the transformation to ultimate. "Faster, faster!" He pointed his rod at the AncientGreymon, the orb beginning to glow blue. "You guys might have to carry me out!" He said. "Let's just hope I don't go into a coma!"

"Hold on, let's think about our options-" Matt began.

"We don't have options! This is the only way we're getting out of here! He's a mega, we're four ultimates and four humans with four guns, I have to be the clincher!" Ken looked over at the partner digimon, who had taken their ultimate form. "Now!"

As one, a celestial arrow, garuru kick, flower cannon, and insectoid alert were shot off at the AncientGreymon, which was in the process of launching an attack itself. The four attacks, while certainly felt by the crest guardian, hardly managed to put it out. Four streams of bullets from powerful, automatic machine guns flowed into the flesh of the mega digimon at the same time, but they did little to alter the eventual result of the battle.

Continuing to fire away with his rifle, Ken fired off a blue orb of energy from his rod straight into the heart of the beast. The orb erupted onto the digimon with little bravado, only a few crackles of what resembled static electricity danced along his skin. However, the actual results spoke louder than special effects. The force of impact threw the powerful digimon back, falling away and down, arcing back into the lava below.

As soon as the orb had left the rod, however, Ken had collapsed on the ground. Mimi, Matt and Kari turned their attention to him as soon as they were sure the AncientGreymon's journey would end in the magma. Matt put his arms around his upper torso, picking him up.

"You gonna be alright?" Matt asked. There was no response. Matt turned him over in his arms as the group ran out of the mountainside entirely, back out into file island as they knew it. The mountainside was covered in small bushes and underbrush, which made downward progress somewhat difficult as the vines were very thick and strong. As they began a rapid descent down the side of the mountain, Matt noticed Ken wasn't breathing.

He felt for a pulse on the neck. Nothing.

"Cardiac Arrest!" He cried suddenly. Kari and Mimi stopped their run down to crowd around Matt.

"Dammit! Now what?" Kari said, looking up cautiously at the mountainside entrance.

Matt grabbed the rod, twirling it around so the orb was pointed downwards. "Hopefully he thought ahead." He lightly tapped Ken's chest with the orb. A _srrkktt_ sounded off from the rod, and Ken's chest popped upwards a few inches. His eyes popped wide open and he took in a deep gasping breath. After a second, he shook his head back and forth, blinked rapidly five times, then grabbed his rod back.

"Thanks." He grumbled, looking up at the entrance to the mountainside. "I would have said something but...it didn't occur to me until after I shot."

"Not a problem." Matt said, taking off down the mountain. Ken, Kari and Mimi followed. "You still got the crests?"

Ken opened the enclosed fist of his right hand, revealing the trio of small emblems. "I wanna talk to the asshole who decided to protect it so well. Shouldn't the greater powers of the digital world _want_ us to be able to get these?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"So, things were going extremely well...until the cavein?" Ken asked, pacing around in front of his bed, his face twisted into a nasty looking frown.

"Yeah. We were ahead of schedule, we had mapped out everything, and we had two thousand mercs on reserve. Plus, we had planned to come back tomorrow and buy out all the guns and crap." Izzy explained from the other side of the room, leaning against the closet door. "And then, a bunch of explosions just ripped off and completely destroyed the place."

"Once again, the Emperor is one step ahead of us." Ken mused. "Pity. Now, I believe you said something about a nice surprise for me in an email?"

"Today wasn't a total loss." Izzy said, reaching into his chest pocket and pulling out the small purple paper pad. "I asked a few select questions of someone with knowledge, and managed to get them answered." He flung the pad over to Ken, who caught it and immediately flipped it open.

Slowly, a much more pleasant expression overtook Ken's features. A hint of a smile even crept in as he slowly flipped through the pages of the pad, reading some of the questions and answers quickly.

"Good...very good...very, very good." He moaned to himself. "Very well done, Izzy. Do you trust the source?"

"Well...I didn't know the mon, but he was running what appeared to be a credible business." Izzy said thoughtfully.

"This is the black market we're talking about." TK reminded, sitting down near the foot of the bed. "Credibility doesn't exist down there."

"True, but I think we should move on under the assumption these claims are legit." Ken decided. "If a black marketeer was selling false information, he'd get whacked pretty quickly." He nodded. "I can definitely use this."

"How'd you guys make off?" Tai asked, leaning against the bedroom door.

Ken reached into his pants' pocket and whipped out the trio of crests. "They're blank, which is unusual." He said, showing the plain surfaces to everyone. "But they're crests, and I'm certain they're quite potent." He flipped one over to Davis, then another to Yolei, and another to Cody. "We'll figure it out tomorrow. And I'll have a new set of plans laid out by then as well. I think I know what we need to do, just gimme the night to think."

"It only cost us half File Island's population." Mimi said bitterly over the speakerphone next to Ken's bed.

"You weren't saying that during the battle." Ken said loudly. "You're only having regrets now because you're thinking about it too hard. So please stop thinking."

"Easy for you to say." She responded, trailing off.

"We came up dry." Yolei admitted. "We just played tag with a bunch of dark shot missiles all day basically. Sorry."

"Don't worry. We've got four days left." Ken looked up at the clock above the bedroom door. "It's getting late. Tomorrow, everyone goes to Server and we start combing areas 2, 3, and 4, pending my new plan that I will develop tonight." He pointed at the door and gave a small bow. "Good night."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Holy crap that ended up long. Whatever. Thanks for reading this much. R&R please! Last chapter let me down with just the one review.


	10. A Cave and A Plan

Chapter Ten: A cave and a plan

"I don't care if it's entered everyday language or not. 'Pwned' is not a word." Tai insisted, looking down at the scrabble board at the series of five tiles TK had just put down. "It's a typo!"

"Yes. It was a typo. But it caught on, and people started using it intentionally, thus making it an actual word. How do you think words get invented?" TK responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's _not_ a word." He pushed up off his chair and went over to a bookshelf over to the right of the small table in the corner of Tai's bedroom. "Look, let's look it up. Ask any dictionary, 'pwned' is not a word."

"Okay." TK said casually, rolling off his chair and going over to the computer in the opposite corner of the room.

"_Not_ urban dictionary!" Tai said, watching TK click on the Firefox Browser icon.

"You said _any_ dictionary." TK reminded. "Urban dictionary is a dictionary. It says so right in the name of the site!"

"Any dumbass can go on that site and make up anything, it has no credibility!" Tai replied, his brow furrowed. "We need a real dictionary."

"But you said any dictionary-"

"I know what I said! I'm taking it back!" He pulled out a thick red book. "Any _credible_ dictionary!" He hurled it across the room at TK. It flew across the room, opening up wildly, TK catching it in both hands in front of his face.

Casually, TK flipped it open to a random page somewhere in the S's. Pen ink was written all over the white, blank spots of the page. "Step one, begin thrusting hips at a rate of one per three seconds. Step two, grip both ends of pillow and pull up-" he began reading flatly.

Tai flew across the room, knocking the dictionary out of TK's hands and onto the floor, facedown. "Shut up!" He hissed into his face.

"Who writes crib notes in a dictionary?" TK grinned, looking down at the large book. "Is there something erotic about learning the correct spelling of words?"

"I said shut up!" Tai shoved his hands up against TK's mouth and pushed him back onto the bed, pressing him down onto the mattress. "You know how to do that? Shut up?"

The bedroom door swung open. Tai froze, then threw himself off the bed and onto the dictionary as if it was a live grenade. He looked up to find Kari escorting Ken, Matt and Joe in.

"Hey." He said quietly, rolling over, hugging the book tightly to his chest, trying to conceal it. "Ever hear of knocking?"

"I did, it's not my fault you were making love to TK over there." She pointed over to TK, who was lieing on the bed, his hair slightly dishelved from the short fight.

"Oh jesus." Matt moaned, putting his right hand over his eyes.

"No! No...we were just fighting because he's retarded and doesn't know the difference between a real word and an accidental internet typo that became stupidly popular-"

"Like an old married couple." Ken said casually, strolling into the room.

"I'm gonna need you to shut up." Tai said warningly in Ken's direction.

"I am _so_ sorry about your brother, Matt." Ken began, looking over at Matt as he walked across the room into the scrabble corner. "But you must remember, he's still a human being, and he's still your brother, and he loves you _very, very_ much. Now, he'll probably be teased at school, perhaps persecuted in public, so you need to be there with him more than ever. Coming out of the closet is one of the hardest things for teenage boys to do-"

"Okay. Okay!" TK said, shaking his hands in front of his face. "You've jumped the shark, Ken, it's not funny anymore, it's-"

"You see how sensitive he is right now? Like an overripe melon!" Ken gestured at TK. "You should not try to hide or conceal your sexual orientation, but rather, embrace it! I'd recommend-"

"STOP!" Matt screamed. "Just...stop, okay?" He began rubbing his eyes with his fingertips very hard. "Stop!"

"People who attempt to avoid, look down, or otherwise discriminate against homosexuals are often hiding their own closet homosexuality." Ken said matter-of-factly, watching Matt stumble into the middle of the room.

Matt suddenly took two massive quick steps across the room over to where Ken was standing and drove his fist hard into Ken's gut. Taken completely by surprise, all Ken could do was keel over and grasp at the point of impact. He fell to his knees, bent over at the waist, as Matt stepped back.

"Touche." Ken grunted.

Tai quickly replaced the dictionary in the shelf. "Alright, can we get to business?" He looked over at the hunched Ken. "You alright?"

"Sure." He gasped, slowly pushing himself up. "I'll be fine. But we should wait for everyone."

Matt was looking at TK awkwardly, one eyebrow raised. "You weren't-"

"No!" TK shouted, crossing his arms over his chest and standing up. "No!"

"Pwned is not a word." Joe said from the corner of the room, looking over the scrabble board. "It's internet lingo, it doesn't count."

"See!" Tai exclaimed, pointing at Joe. "See! And he's going to medical school, so he'd know!"

"Whatever man." TK said dismissively. "I thought...y'know, us being friends, you'd be up for a little bit of rule-bending. It's a game."

"I'm not giving you a triple-word score square because you're my friend." Tai said slowly.

"Wait..." Joe picked up one of the 'F' tiles off the board and flipped it over. "Somebody carved and painted an F onto the back of this tile. It's supposed to be an A. Hell of a job, too..."

Tai glanced over at Joe, then shot a dirty look at TK, who smirked and shrugged. Tai began to advance on TK.

A knock interrupted whatever it was that was brewing, however. Kari leaned over from her spot by the door against the wall and turned the knob. Izzy, Sora, and Davis stood on the other side.

"Alright." Ken clapped his hands together. "Waiting on Cody and Yolei. And we need to get Mimi on speaker...hold on." He pulled a red cell phone out of his pocket. "I got one of those disposable phones, so long distance isn't a problem now."

TK suddenly spoke up. "Hey, Sora. I'm trying to remember. How do you spell it? A-v-a-l-i-b-l-e, a-v-a-i-l-i-b-l-e, or what? I can never remember?"

She thought for a minute. "I forget. I think it's-"

"Oh, forget it. Can you check in that dictionary right there on the shelf for me?" He pointed at the fat red book on the shelf right next to her.

"Sure." Sora reached for it just as Tai's eye twitched. He dove for the small shelf, sliding face-first across the floor, and ripped at the right wall panel of the shelf. The rather weak system of bolts holding it together came apart easily, sending the entire structure, and it's contents, to a heap on the floor.

"Oh...clumsy me." Tai said, his voice strained. "You know what, I'll bet that smudged the ink. The spelling is probably all off now! We should...check on the internet!"

"Uh-huh." Sora said, looking at the pile of wood and books, then at Tai.

"Anyway!" Ken said loudly, drawing everyone's attention to him as he placed the open cellphone down on the table. "We have Mimi on the line. Our plan has taken a drastic detour, so I advise you all pay close attention. I'll get more into that when-" a knock came at the door, "-there we go."

Kari again leaned over to turn the knob. Yolei and Cody were admitted.

"Very good." Ken said, reaching into his back pants' pocket. "Okay, quick recap. The good news right now is that we've found the three crests that will almost certainly provide us with three more ultimates, and that Izzy provided me with some vital information last night that has proven to be pivotal already in our war against the Emperor. The bad news, however, is that we have no idea how to achieve the mega level, have yet to actually apply the crests, our main source of firepower and manpower is now a heap of junk fifty feet down, we're down to about ninety-six hours before the entire digital world goes under the control of Faustian, and my rod is running bone dry after yesterday's fight with the AncientGreymon."

On cue, Izzy reached into his pockets and pulled out four crystals. Ken stared at them for a moment, then up at Izzy.

"And you were keeping them a secret...why?" He asked tartly.

"You were so happy last night after I gave you the info...I thought I'd save it." Izzy confessed. "We have so little to be happy about, so I thought we'd spread it out a bit-"

"Just-just give them to me!" Ken spat. Izzy threw them over, Ken quickly catching them as they flew through the air. "So you saw the Apemon before it all blew up?"

"Yes. He's quite the little pickpocket." Izzy replied, reaching inside his jacket and pulling out two more. "Real lifesaver."

"Indeed." Ken watched Izzy throw the two over and caught them as well. "Well, that's one problem taken care of...thank you for having the wisdom to make that pit stop." He digressed to Izzy. "Now. Right now our biggest problem is we don't have a serious source of power to draw on." He set the six crystals down on the computer table next to him. "These should get us by for a few days, but the problem still stands. Now, unless we're hoping to just stumble onto something during our search of Server, there's only one way we're getting our hands on what we need." He pulled his hand from his pocket, holding a crumpled piece of paper.

"Straight from the man himself." Izzy finished.

"Yup." Ken unfurled the paper.

"That's crazy!" Davis interjected. "You said so yourself. His security is gonna be way too tight. No shot."

"It's our only option. It's become obvious that, whatever methods there may be to acquire power in the digital world, the Emperor has found and exploited. We've got four days, so leeching off him is really all we can do." Ken explained. "Now, here's how things are broken down as far as we know according to this information." He placed the piece of paper flat on the table. Drawn on it was a surprisingly accurate map of the digital world "Now, he keeps fifty percent of his power stash with him at all times, inside his base. The other fifty percent is distributed among his ten Faustian Facilities. I've marked all the locations with green dots." He pointed out a series of green dots on the map. "At the base of infinity mountain, where Myotismon used to have his castle...basically spread out all over in population hotspots."

"This is nice." Yolei said, looking over Matt's shoulder. "You draw this last night?"

"Nah, I drew this a long time ago." Ken commented. "Anyway, he's only got three facilities up and running. But he's started construction on all of them, and since he builds the lower level first, he's already got all ten safe rooms finished. So, all ten safe rooms are loaded up with what equates to five percent of his total stash per safe."

"How's the security on the incomplete ones?" TK asked, rubbing his chin, hunched over the map.

"Better than the complete ones really. That's a dead end." Ken responded quickly.

"So you wanna break into his base and even the odds?" Tai asked.

"I'd love to, but it's not happening. We don't even know what his base looks like, much less where it is. And I'd hate to see the security on it." Ken mumbled.

"So you want to break into a complete facility?" Kari deduced.

"That's our best bet. Because it's up and running, the security is somewhat limited. I'm not gonna lie, no matter what we do, pulling this off is gonna take a miracle." Ken rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I wouldn't consider trying this if there was any other way."

"Five percent?" Davis repeated, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Seems like alot of trouble for such a small piece of the pie. Maybe we could try to rob multiple facilities?"

"No time." Ken said dismissively. "If we actually manage to pull this off, I'm sure the Emperor is gonna start hurling everything he's got at us. This is going to actually hurt him, and in turn piss him off. We'll be too busy ducking and dodging to try and pull off another heist."

"What if we tried to pull multiple jobs at the same time?" Cody wondered out loud.

"Without the black market, we'll be lucky to pull the manpower for one job. Besides, I want all the attention on this one, because this _has_ to work." Ken pointed out, again going into orator mode.

"Are you really sure five percent is going to...hurt him? If I was him, I'd look at it as a drop in the ocean." Joe shrugged. "I dunno, how much is five percent supposed to be anyway?"

Ken gave a low whistle. "Well, Cory's been a busy Emperor. According to the source, which I wouldn't trust one hundred percent, Cory's sitting on a grand total of about twenty-four thousand crystals."

"Jesus." Sora said under her breath. "So five percent is...twelve hundred."

"It'll get us through six months if we play it smart." Ken nodded his head. "Hopefully between now and then something will come up. We'll just have to play defense."

"Hold it." Izzy suddenly said. "Someone's math is off, because there is just no way he's got twenty-four thousand crystals. It's not possible."

"Hey, you think that's scary, think of it this way. He can take his Faustian army and convert it into crystals any time he pleases. Imagine ninety-nine percent of the digimon in the digital world converted into power crystals. He could get up into seven figures." Ken forewarned.

"You're not telling us something." Tai said in a low voice. "Care to share?"

Ken blinked slowly a few times, then licked his lips. "Cory's...Cory's body acts as an augmenter or something." He glanced down at the floor. "When he converts the power into those crystals, the amount of power increases tenfold."

"No kidding?" Yolei uttered. "When did you figure this out?"

"I...I was crunching the numbers, and it didn't make sense any other way. When Apemon gave me that first set of crystals, I felt them." He looked down at the palms of his hands. "I know what I felt. I've become familiar with such things ever since I've started using the rod. Each of those crystals carries the power equivalent to an ultimate level digimon. We know he created one with ten rookies. It's the only way it adds up."

"You should have said something. We need to be informed." Izzy mumbled, looking very serious.

"I didn't wanna depress everyone. The odds are high enough as it is." Ken shrugged. "Anyway, that's why I want to steal power from him. It's ten times the power we'd get otherwise."

Tai picked at his upper lip. "I guess it doesn't change much. I just always assumed each crystal was as strong as a champion. So it's just a perspective thing."

"How did you know I was hiding something anyway?" Ken asked, looking Tai over.

"I didn't." Tai went slightly red. "I just say that to everyone I know every now and then. As long as you pull the look off, nobody ever hides anything from you." He shrugged.

Ken couldn't help but snicker. "Very nice, Tai. Very nice. Anyway, I hate to leave you all on a sad note, so..." he cleared his throat. "Two days from today, the facility located right smack dab in the middle of the Machine City on Server has it's grand opening." He walked over to the map on the table and tapped his right index finger on the dot indicating the city. "The most densely populated area in all the digital world. The lines will extend for hundreds of meters, waiting for six P.M. on the dot. Of all the facilities opening in the digital world, this one is expected to draw the most business, in both the short-term and long-term."

"Interesting." Izzy stared down at the map, rubbing his chin.

"Now, in the interest of further augmenting the popularity of opening night, the Emperor has booked a series of fights. Fifteen minutes after the opening of the facility, the festivities begin. The undercard is made up of rookies, champions, and ultimates duking it out in a specially made ring, giving the fighting digimon complete fighting freedom while allowing spectators to get within mere meters of the action and be completely safe. Then, at ten, the real battle kicks off." Ken glanced around at everyone.

"Megas?" Mimi asked through the connection.

"Correct. The rumor is he's booked a Seraphimon and Armageddemon. Digimon from all over Server, who would normally wait for a facility close to them to open up, are flocking to this one in anticipation of fight night." Ken's voice was rising a few octaves, and he was starting to grin.

"How does this affect us?" Kari asked.

"Well, let me explain to you what these facilities are made up of." Ken put his hands out in front of him, palms about a foot apart and facing each other. "There are three sections. First, you've got the...bar, I guess. Here, you can come in and order a nice dosage of Faustian. You can inject it, drink it, snort it, eat it, inhale it...whatever. So long as you can pay the piper."

"He take American Express?" Tai asked sarcastically.

"He mainly deals in loyalty. I mean, he's willing to barter with just about anything. You can use money, property, information...anything that might be of worth to him. You can even give him power if it represents a gain to him, Faustian is very cheap to make. Unfortunately, he's the only one who knows how to make it." Ken winced. "In any case, after you get addicted, you'll give up everything you got to get your fix. Eventually, that means swearing eternal loyalty to the Emperor. That's how he ropes in his forces."

"I'd hate to hear what goes on in the other two areas." Matt said under his breath.

"Second area is sort of a chop shop. You can go in, request some sort of modification, and come out with...laser eyeballs or a cannon for an arm. Think of it this way. Faustian gives you a temporary buzz of increased power, the chop shop is permanent." Ken nodded omniously. "Of course, to get such a modification, you have to offer the Emperor alot in return."

"He's a genius." Izzy admittedly, pulling back from over the map and pacing about. "Evil genius. I couldn't make this stuff up."

"The last area is particularly interesting. Imagine you're a digimon, addicted to Faustian to the point where you think you'd sooner give up oxygen than Faustian. You're jumping through hoops and throwing everything you own at the Emperor just to get enough to get by, and eventually, it starts driving you crazy. You hunger for more, but there's only one way you can get it short of stealing. Enter the third area of the facilities. The casinos."

"Oh my." TK said softly. "I see."

"That's right. Using just about anything you have of worth as collateral, you may enter the casino and gamble away, the hope of perhaps hitting the jackpot forever taunting you. Should you hit the fabled jackpot, you'll get enough Faustian to last you your entire life, no strings attached. The odds may be astronomical, but when you're desperate, you'll do anything." Ken took a deep breath. "Now, what's the first rule of casinos?"

"Never bet on a straight draw?" Cody asked.

"Good rule, but no." Ken nodded at Cody.

"Leave your emotions at the door?" Tai tried. Ken shook his head.

"The house always wins." Matt finally said.

"Matt has it." Ken gestured at Matt. "In the long run, these casinos will spell profit for the Emperor. A few digimon might make it out of there with a...profit, so to speak. Some might even strike it rich. But overall, the casinos bring the Emperor that much closer to complete digital world domination. This bermuda triangle of irresponsibility is basically impossible to escape for anyone who dares get trapped inside."

"I see. Now, how does this relate to us?" Kari asked.

"Well, normally the Emperor keeps five percent of his stash in each facility. This is enough to cover for however many digimon come in to buy Faustian, request modifications, or happen to strike it big in the casino. Now, in the...ridiculously rare instance that several digimon hit jackpots at the same time, there has to be enough power on hand to distribute winnings. This is why he keeps so much of it within the facilities. The casinos are legit, and they do pay out just as any casino in the real world would. So normally, he has X number of chips on the floor and X number of maximum possible winnings at the slots. Five percent covers that. But on fight night, you're going to see alot more digimon shooting up, going under the knife, and rolling the die. He's expecting at least double what he usually sees. Plus, owing to the atmosphere, we can expect to see alot more activity from those present." Ken nodded, a devilish grin on his face. "So, for that night only, he's going to be holding...wait for it...twenty percent of his stash in the vault below."

"Twenty percent? That's almost five thousand!" Yolei exclaimed.

"So, we pull the job on that night. If we manage it, we'll be looking mighty fine for a year at the minimum. I'll have everything I need for a very long time." Ken stepped back from the table and spun around on his heel. "Now, the security won't change a lick, since Cory already believes he's done everything he can in terms of protecting his safe. We have as good a chance of doing this as we do with any other facility on any other day."

"This is good." Davis muttered, nodding slowly. "This is very, very good."

"Yeah, if you ignore the fact that we're trying to plan a sting operation that usually takes months to organize in two days." Izzy responded. "We need people on the inside who have been scoping things out for months, we need blueprints, we need computer simulations, we need-"

"Izzy." Ken said loudly, looking up at the ceiling. "We only need one thing. And I've got it right here." He reached down towards his waist, opened up a leather pouch, and removed a small bronze flask. He tossed it over to Izzy, who caught it. "Go on, have a bit."

Izzy quickly unscrewed the cap and brought the neck up to his nose. He took a quick sniff, then quickly pulled it down. "Is this vodka?" He asked incredulously.

"Only the best." Ken smiled and nodded. He glanced around at everyone, and was met with a series of disbelieving looks. "Hey, you think I'd be able to talk about this sober? The fate of both worlds depends on a group of a dozen teenagers pulling off the greatest heist in human history with a little over two days of planning. If I was sober I'd probably still be in bed in the fetal position, praying to every god I could think of."

"You don't look drunk." Kari said, looking hard at Ken's face.

"I only drank a little. I just wanted a little buzz." Ken shrugged.

"There are better ways to deal with stress." Yolei commented, looking at the flask.

"Hey, I'm the man with the magic stick. There's alot of pressure on me. I think I've earned the right to do a little underage drinking." Ken caught the flask as Izzy hurled it back over to him.

"Whatever." Sora shrugged. "So what's the plan?" 

"We'll continue with the search of Server as planned. However, we need help from other digimon if we want to pull this job off. The digimon we recruited. We need to find ones who haven't already fallen under the spell of Faustian and are willing to risk their lives for our cause. So, before we begin our flyover, my group will make stops at every location we made recruiting visits to. I'm thinking we'll need at least two dozen digimon, some with specific abilities. Unfortunately, we won't be able to get anywhere near this operation, and neither will our partners." Ken looked over at the computer in the corner. "So the other two groups should proceed as we planned."

"Got it." Tai nodded as he pulled out his digivice. Everyone else followed suit.

-----------------------------------------------------

Megakabuterimon soared high over their region of Server, seven faces peering over the edges of his back, looking hard down at the ground. Their region was made up mostly of rainforest-esque territory, and it was exceedingly difficult to see much of anything through the canopy of trees. As such, Izzy was rigging his webcam to his laptop, attempting to utilize thermal imaging to at least get a sense of what might below.

"Maybe we should just forget the flyby. We could ride Raidramon through the rainforest." Davis suggested.

"Hold on." Izzy replied, positioning the small camera over the edge of Megakabuterimon so the lens was looking down to the forest.

"We don't even know if what we're looking for will show up on thermals." Joe reminded. "I mean, who says it has to involve living things?"

"There." Izzy said, flipping his computer screen around. "This is why I don't want to go below." On a blue, constantly moving image of the forest below, a series of yellow, green and red spots were scattered about. "I've rigged up this program so Faustian traces show up green. As you can see, every digimon down there is on the stuff. I'd rather not have to deal with that. From up here we have alot less to deal with."

"Very nice." Cody commented, watching the screen. "You write this program?"

"Yup. It picks up any irregular heat signatures, movement, or sound." He nodded. "Good thing I did too."

"So we're looking for something particularly big?" Davis deduced.

"If I had to guess, I'd say we're looking for a temple." Veemon said. "Some old building. I don't know alot about the digivolving process, but that's my guess."

"Well, temples generally don't give off heat, move, or make noise, so I really don't think this is the best way to-" Joe began.

"Can you just shut up?" Izzy exasperated. "It's our best bet."

"We're flying pretty low. I'm sure some of these digimon can fly too." Cody commented. "I'd expect an aerial attack."

"Absolutely." Izzy pushed himself into a standing position and began to walk to the other side of Megakabuterimon's back. He bent down over a segment of it and yanked on a tiny, almost invisible cord, and a hatch swung open.

"Huh. Never knew about that." Davis said. Izzy pulled out four skinny, elongated suitcases, a light brown in color.

"Come on down and pick one up." Izzy instructed, carrying one of the cases over. When he got back to the group, he slid his fingers under the two latches and popped it open. Sitting in a bed of foam was a black, sleek sniper rifle.

"Hellooo." Davis said in a low voice.

"What do we have here?" Joe asked, looking the weapon over.

"It's an automatic sniper rifle. Can fire 20 rounds a second, yet retains the accuracy that you'd find in any bolt-action sniper." He pulled the rifle out, revealing a set of five clips in the bottom of the case. He picked one of them out and rammed it into the slot along the bottom of the barrel. "Thing of beauty."

Immediately, everyone popped up and began the trek across Megakabuterimon's back towards the other cases. Izzy was staring at the computer screen, waiting for anything unusual to pop up.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Mere days ago, many of you swore you'd do whatever you could to assist in the fight against the Emperor. Now, it's time to walk the walk." Ken spoke eloquently to the sea of digimon before him in the Koromon village. "If this endeavor fails, this world is doomed. The digimon in this village have yet to fall under the intoxicating spell of Faustian to this point, but within days you will find it impossible to resist. The same goes for every digimon in the digital world." He nodded slowly. "So, all who are willing to put their life on the line for the sake of this world, I ask you come up to me now. The volunteers will be informed to the nature of this plan." He bowed and backed away, watching the Koromon nervously glance at each other.

"Not bad." Matt commented. "If that doesn't get them, I dunno what will."

"You're asking them to get through security that can be gotten through, crack a safe that can't be cracked, and then just walk out of a packed facility with five thousand power crystals." Kari said sourly. "I dunno, I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"They're good digimon. Give them a chance." Ken whispered. "I'm sure they understand that they'll die anyway if this doesn't work."

Slowly, a pair of Koromon began hopping towards the group. Mimi nodded. "There we go."

Ken cleared his throat. "Anyone involved in this operation will be given access to a large amount of power augmentations. In fact, I can assure anyone who volunteers will see the Agumon stage for this job." He said loudly. This seemed to perk up further interest. "And there will be payment. Anyone who assists the digidestined will be well compensated."

Four more Koromon began the trek towards the four digidestined, joining the first two.

"We could use some variety. Six might be good." Matt said quietly into Ken's ear.

"It's cool." He pointed at his rod. "With this baby I can pretty much give any digimon whatever abilities we'll happen to need for this."

"Have you thought about the details of the heist yet?" Kari said, watching another Koromon emerge from the ocean of small pink heads and jump up to the other six.

"I've got a few ideas. Haven't made up my mind quite yet, but I'll have it ready when the time comes." Ken responded, his eyes darting over the Koromon. "I wish we could get some experienced thieves in on this. If only the black market was still standing."

No more Koromon came forth. Ken looked around at the rest of them for a moment, then nodded.

"Very good. To the rest of you, this place is no longer safe. Soon, the armies of the Emperor will ravage these lands. I strongly advise you all travel to the eastern docks. When you get there, a massive submarine will be there. Board it, and when it's fully loaded, it will go down into the depths and enter a cavern some several hundred feet down. This is the main base of the digidestined, and has been well fortified against potential attack. At this point, the Emperor doesn't even know it exists. You will be safe there." Ken again bowed and turned to leave.

"Base? You never said anything about a base." Mimi commented, falling into step next to Ken as he walked away.

"That's because I haven't made it yet." He pulled out his rod and began to stare into the orb. It glowed a prominent blue as he groaned and grunted, squeezing the rod tightly. After a few seconds, the orb became clear again, and Ken took a few wheezing breaths. "Okay, it's made."

Matt, Kari and Mimi stared at Ken for a second. "You're serious?" Kari questioned.

"Yup." Ken nodded. "Let's just say I've got a real nice long distance plan." He smirked. "Alright, next stop...Toy Town should be unaffected."

------------------------------------------------------------

"Give me a break. It's a desert!" Tai exclaimed, looking down over Aquilamon's wing. "If there was anything interesting to see, we'd have already seen it by now! The entire area is made up of sand! I think we'd be able to spot a big temple, we don't need to fly over every square inch!"

"We have to stick to the plan." TK said simply. Though he couldn't help but agree with Tai. There wasn't a single tree or piece of foilage for miles, meaning everything that could be seen in the desert could be easily seen. No matter what direction he looked, all that could be seen was sand, rocks, and the occasional cacti. If they were indeed looking for some form of a temple, this area certainly wasn't the place to be.

"Just keep flying." Yolei yelled up to Aquilamon. "C'mon guys, we might be looking for something that's small. We don't know. Just because this area looks really boring doesn't mean we can skip it."

"What if it's an underground temple? We'd be looking for a trap door or something, probably buried under the sand." Sora mused.

"Way to depress me." TK grunted. "If it's underground we might as well go home right now and start building a bomb shelter."

"Uh-huh." Tai reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small golden flask. He twisted the cap off and put his lips on the neck, leaning it upwards for a split-second to drain some of the liquid inside into his mouth.

"You're...kidding, right?" TK said, staring intently at the flask. "Is that-"

"Believe it." Tai said quickly. "Matt hooked me up." He saw TK's unbelieving stare. "Look, I might be able to pretend to be alright with all this saving the world stuff, like it's just another day in the life, but the truth is, I am stressed beyond _belief!_ Sometimes you just need a little kick to be...crazy enough to do this stuff!"

TK pursed his lips and looked off into the distance.

"Please don't tell anyone." Tai pleaded.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." TK shrugged. "So what, you don't care if Sora sees you drinking?"

"You kidding me?" Tai smirked and shook his head. "She's been smoking for the past week. She's got some...unfortunate crap going on at home right now, needs the nicotine."

"Huh. Well, the Emperor might not be able to get us addicted to Faustian, but he's doing a hell of a job getting us addicted to other destructive substances." TK chuckled. "The irony."

"I'm not addicted! I can quit any time!" Tai insisted, even as he took another sip right after. "I just have a little bit every now and then so I can function as well as I possibly can."

"Uh-huh. Right." TK glanced back down at the ground for a moment, then came back up. "Lemme try some."

"No." Tai said strongly, shaking his head. "Underage substance abuse is reserved for the older digidestined only. I refuse to condone a thirteen year old drinking vodka in my presense."

TK rubbed his eyes. "You saw Ken kicking some back no less than half an hour ago!"

"He's...different." Tai said quickly. "He's more mature. Plus he's the man with the magic stick so he takes precedence." He put his hand over his chest pocket, which contained the flask.

TK sighed. "So it's okay to drink and smoke when your underage so long as you're within five years of the legal age now?"

Tai shrugged. "I guess."

TK looked across Aquilamon's back at Sora. "Hey, Sora! When we get back, we should look up the spelling of 'hypocrite' in Tai's dictionary! I can't remember how it goes-"

Tai grabbed TK from behind and pulled him back, hand over his mouth. "You're a real bastard, you know that?" He hissed. "Fine." He pulled the flask out of his jacket. "But you didn't get this from me."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

In a single second, the sound of eighty bullets blowing out of a sniper rifle barrel cracked through the air, as all four digidestined were firing off their brand new weapons at a host of aerial digi-junkies. The small led balls flew through the air and tore through the digimon. Among their numbers included Roachmons, Kuwagamons, Snimons, and Flymons. On occasion, another grouping of winged digimon would emerge from the forest below and join in, but the power, accuracy, and firing interval of the weapons kept everyone at bay for the most part.

"Someone needs to be watching the damn screen!" Davis yelled, peering through the scope and blowing holes in a Roachmon.

"I told Gomamon to!" Joe said, bringing the rifle up to bear with a Flymon that was making a charge.

"Does he know what to look for?" Izzy questioned, ripping the clip off the bottom of the gun and slamming a fresh one home.

"As well as any of us!" Joe answered, firing away.

"Guys!" Cody screamed from the other side of MegaKabuterimon. "What's that Megadramon carrying?!" He pointed off into the distance at the winged snake.

Izzy stared hard at the claws of the beast for a moment before going pale. "It's a modified dark shot! Get down!" He yelled, motioning down with his hand. "Megakabuterimon, get down!"

"Chill out. I'll shoot it." Davis said calmly, turning around and taking aim.

"No, it's armored! You can't! It can only be detonated by remote!" He saw the back of the missile flare up and leave the Megadramon's claws. "We need cover!"

In a flash, Megakabuterimon began a quick descent, going down into the canopy of trees. Everyone held on tight as branches and leaves threatened to knock them off. After a few seconds of gliding, they set down by the bottom of a small waterfall.

"This ledge gonna cut it?!" Joe yelled, faintly hearing the sound of the missile streaking through the air.

"Maybe." Izzy said, feeling the wall of dirt, stone and grass with his hands. "We don't have a choice."

Everyone kneeled over and braced themselves over their partner digimon. MegaKabuterimon quickly reverted back to his Tentomon form and got under Izzy as the missile embedded itself into the ground above and exploded. The entire area shook violently and assorted debris cascaded down onto the digidestined and their partners.

However, the wall stood steady. The quakes and explosions passed with no serious damage done to the crew. Slowly, they stood up and looked around.

"We're sitting ducks down here." Davis exclaimed. "I don't know if we can make it if all the addicts in this area gang up on us."

"We can't go back up." Izzy said, looking up into the canopy. "Who knows how many more missiles they have." He coughed. "He's getting smart. Armored missiles now."

"Well, then what do we do?" Cody asked. "I'm sure they planned this, we're gonna get overrun any minute here!"

"Hold it." Izzy said slowly. The group turned towards the waterfall. In the chaos, they had failed to realize a massive rock had fallen out of the wall behind the waterfall and was now partially blocking the river. The rock had been covering a cave entrance, now fully exposed to the world, hidden only behind a wall of running water. "Jackpot?"

"As good a chance as any!" Davis exclaimed, running up to the waterfall. "C'mon!" He dove through headfirst.

"It's a good hiding spot in any case." Izzy said before running through the wall of water. Cody and Joe followed suit.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, lemme see." Ken glanced around at the small collection of digimon at his feet. "That's seven from the Koromon village, four from Toy Town, five from the Yokomon village, and now...six from Cherrymon's forest. Twenty-Two."

"You want two more then?" Kari asked.

Ken said nothing for a moment, looking at Wormmon, who was perched on his shoulder. "I think we can get away with putting two of our own on the job. I've got a plan in the works, and it involves some of the digimon in disguises anyway."

"Okay, now what?" Matt looked around. "It's already two, if we want to make that sweep we have to get started now."

Ken reached into his blue jacket pocket and pulled out a PDA. "No word from group one since they called in about that cave behind the waterfall." He reported as he began rapidly touching the screen. "That was an hour and a half ago. I had a feeling about that cave, we should probably send a check in."

"Everyone else, go to the eastern docks!" Kari cried out to the population of Cherrymon Forest. She heard general groans from everyone. "I know it's a long walk, but this place isn't safe! Go board the submarine, you'll be taken to a hidden fortress, and you can be safe!"

Still grumbling, the digimon began to saunter off towards the east in a flock.

"Group three is still extremely bored. They've seen nothing but sand since they started." Ken said quickly, replacing the PDA in his pocket. "Alright. We should start our flyover of area four until group one gets back."

With that, Ken grabbed onto Dinobeemon's leg, Kari latched onto Angewomon, Mimi picked up Lilymon, and Matt hitched a ride on Dinobeemon's other leg. They took to the skies and began a fast flight towards area four.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, Davis just reported the cave they found isn't your ordinary cave." Tai reported, reading the paragraph on his D-Terminal.

"How so?" TK inquired.

"He thinks they hit the jackpot." Tai responded. "I know it's Davis, but he's reporting all sorts of inscriptions engraved on the walls and alot of glowing, glittery crap, so it could be something."

"Figures." Sora crossed her arms over her chest. "We've been flying up here for five hours, and all we've seen is sand. Figures we were wasting our time."

"No promises yet." Tai reminded. "And...let's see. Ken reports they've been doing the flyover of area four, and have had to deal with a crapload of hepped up digimon. They seem to have things under control though."

"Wish we had a magic stick." Yolei grumbled. "Although...I haven't seen a single digimon yet."

"Nobody wants to live in the desert I guess." TK mused. "I doubt the Emperor would bother building a facility around here, not enough digimon."

"Yup." Yolei replied. "Alright TK, keep it going."

TK cleared his throat and began pacing back and forth again as everyone watched. "Hey, you know what the difference between a dentist and a sadist is? Newer magazines!" Awkward silence followed. "Umm...you know, I think the best way to find a really good dentist is to get in bed with them. It makes sense to me that when you engage in intercourse with a good dentist, you shouldn't feel a thing. So if you find the sex extremely boring and you don't feel anything, that's probably a good dentist." More silence. "Err...something occured to me recently. If Miles Davis was born in Europe, would his name have been Kilometers Davis?"

"Oh wow, look at the time!" Sora suddenly said. "It's already four! Tai's turn!"

TK bit his tongue and looked off into the distance. "Whatever."

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"Okay. I think I get it now." Izzy said slowly, feeling his hand over the wall of inscriptions.

"That's a relief, because I sure as hell don't." Cody said. "What's the deal?"

"Well...I think each of these symbols represents a digimon currently alive within the digital world." Izzy explained. "You see how various pieces of each symbol are...glittering...and others aren't?" 

"You're saying each piece represents a digivolution stage?" Davis asked. "Sweet!"

"Well, I can't prove it yet. We don't have any idea which symbols represent which digimon." Izzy commented. "We could be here a long time trying to figure it out."

"I found one." Joe said casually.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's no way you could know that." Izzy replied dismissively, continuing to run his fingers over the inscriptions on the wall.

"No, I'm serious." Joe said. "Check it out." Cody, Izzy and Davis walked over to where Joe was standing. "There's a very small inscription of a digivice in the middle of this one. I'm guessing that means it's one of the partners."

"Oh!" Izzy exclaimed, leaning in close to it. "You're right. But who's is it?"

"Let me see..." Davis said. "Every part of the symbol except this little leg off to the right is glowing. So that little leg must represent mega."

"Probably." Izzy agreed. "And this segment of the symbol is glowing red instead of white...maybe that represents the stage that the digimon is currently in?"

"Maybe." Joe said. "It's already four thirty. I think we better call in late, this place is huge. It'll take forever to find all our partners."

"Don't be so sure." Izzy said, pulling out his webcam. "Everyone, get down flat against the floor." He set the cam down on the ground as everyone complied. He jacked the cam into his laptop and began hitting keys rapidly. Then, suddenly, the camera did a slow 360 degree rotation at ground level. Then it looked up at a 30 degree angle and slowly spun around again. It continued this process of spinning and adjusting for another minute before stopping.

"Oh, don't tell me-" Davis said, crawling over to look at the computer screen.

Izzy got up and grabbed the cam. He walked right up to the symbol with the digivice in the center and held the lens right up to it for a moment. "Now, as long as the resolution is good enough..." he strolled back over to the laptop. "...I should be able to search for all digivice inscriptions in the room."

"Too cool!" Davis exclaimed. "Computers!"

"I like to help the humans sometimes." Izzy said sarcastically. He bent down over the computer and hit a few more keys. "Aaaannnddd..." the screen began to blink in several different locations as a map of the entire room appeared on screen. He began pointing at all the places on the walls that were blinking on screen. "Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom." He said rapidly, as everyone ran to wherever Izzy pointed to find a digivice inscription.

"Do you have all twelve?" Davis asked quickly, feeling the engraving of one of the digivices under his fingers.

"Yup. Now, we just have to figure out how to...activate these things." Izzy said, walking up to one, cracking his neck.

----------------------------------------------------

The air was filled with the sounds of gunfire, as led balls flew from the barrels of a collection of powerful weapons. Precariously mounted on their medium sized flying digimon, Ken, Matt, Kari and Mimi were firing away with their sniper/machine gun hybrids at flying digimon who had been driven to insanity by their addiction.

Ken blew off the wings of a Snimon, sending it crashing back down into the canyon below, madly flailing it's arms and legs. Then, Ken nearly fell right off Dinobeemon's foot, but managed to steady himself by grabbing onto Dinobeemon's lower leg.

"Hold steady!" Ken yelled, looking over at Dinobeemon's other leg to see Matt firing away. "The wind's picking up!"

"Can't we go down?!" Kari screamed back, even as she ejected projectiles into a Devimon's back. Angewomon followed up with a celestial arrow.

"It's even worse down there!" Ken yelled. "I don't want to have to deal with the infantry too!"

"Missiles!" Mimi yelled. She pointed off to the left. Sure enough, a trio of armored dark shots was heading right for them.

Grunting, Ken whipped the rod out from his belt and snapped it towards the rockets. Immediately, the flare trailing from the tails of them died, the missiles froze over into ice blocks, and they began a fast fall to the ground.

"We've got to do something!" Matt insisted, ripping the pin out of a grenade and hurling it through the air and onto a Devidramon's back. "We can't stay up here forever, and you know they'll never stop coming!"

"I know!" Ken responded as the grenade exploded and ripped a hole in the back of the Devidramon. "We might have to run!"

"Ken?" Dinobeemon said suddenly.

"What?" Ken responded, bringing the rifle up to bear on a host of Flymon.

"Something's happened." He spoke slowly, his voice etched with nervousness.

"What, you mean like south of the Mason-Dixon line?" Matt asked sarcastically.

"They must have found it." Dinobeemon said simply. "They found it."

"You mean-" Ken began.

"Yup." Dinobeemon nodded. "Shall I?"

"Anytime, buddy. Anytime." Ken winked, then turned back to the host of airborne digimon.

-----------------------------------------------------

"The strands in your eyes that color them wonderfuull stop meee and steeaaalll my brreaatthh..." TK sung flatly, laying back on Aquilamon's back, incredibly bored.

"Oh no." Tai moaned. "No. Singing!" He spat over in TK's direction. He too was lying down, as bored as he could ever remember being.

"And emeralds from mountains thrrusstt towards the sky neeevveerrr revealing their deeeppptthh..." he continued.

"WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAY?" Tai yelled, jumping up and diving on TK. "Sing another syllable and I'll chew your neck off."

"Well, this is only the second time today we've been in a compromising position." TK said nonchalantly. "Are you trying to seduce me, Mister Kamiya?"

"Guys!" Yolei suddenly exclaimed. "Can you stop screwing around? Something's up." She pointed down at the desert below.

Everyone peered down at where she was pointing. A large hill of sand was stirring restlessly.

"Sand hills aren't supposed to stir." Sora said. "This isn't good at all." 

"Everyone prepare yourselves." TK warned.

And then, the dune exploded in a violent rage as three massive, slender heads emerged from the depths.Three elongated, snakelike bodies followed. After the sand and dust was cleared of the scene, the three digimon revealed themselves to be GigaSeadramons.

"Aw, hell na." Patamon said after a few moments of stunned silence.

Yolei quickly reached inside her shirt pocket for the blank crest. "Freaking thing!" And then, she realized it was no longer blank. "Huh. Whaddya know?"

Tai looked over her shoulder at the new inscription. "What is it?"

"No clue. Maybe it'll work now." Yolei said hopefully.

"Four ultimates don't have a shot against three megas." Sora responded. "So it doesn't really matter. Let's get out of here."

"Hold it!" Agumon interjected. "Tai...I think it's go time."

"You mean..." Tai stared at Agumon intently.

Agumon nodded.

"Guys. We're staying." Tai began, slowly turning to face the other three. "Tell your digimon to look...deep within themselves. They might find something very nice."

TK grinned, then turned to Patamon, who took flight.

"Let's do this." Sora said, standing up and watching Biyomon take to the skies.

"So...when you said go time, you didn't mean you needed to go to the bathroom, right?" Yolei said slowly, looking at Agumon. She was met with a stony silence. "Alright then." She bent down and patted Aquilamon's back. "Set us down and let's kick some ass!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

"These are some nice shots, Kari." Ken commented. "You really capture the...chaos and domination of the fight." He was flipping through the digitally stored pictures on Kari's camera. "Hey Izzy, check these out." He walked across the room to Izzy and showed him the screen. On it was an over-the-shoulder snapshot of GranKuwagamon using his massive pincers to slice an Okuwamon in half. He ran his thumb over the arrow key right, scrolling to a sideshot of GranKuwagamon using his energy beams to shoot a flying Gigadramon clear out of the sky.

"These are nice." Izzy agreed. "I like how you can see the sinew on the Gigadramon."

"There's more." Ken said, scrolling through again. "Here's Magnadramon." A spiraling flame was shooting from the large dragon's mouth, carving through an Etemon as if it was tissue paper. Another shot showcased a mist emitting from the dragon's mouth, touching and melting a Diaboromon as if it was molten lava. "We should have some shots of MetalGarurumon...hang on." He hit the arrow right key a few times until a shot of a massive blast of ice breath was pictured slamming into a Digitamamon. The next shot showed four energy beams shooting into the heart of an unfortunate LadyDevimon. "And...of course, we have Rosemon." A red, black and green human-esque digimon was shown stabbing an extremely long stick into the chest of an Andromon. The next featured a thorny whip from the hand of the Rosemon beating a SkullSatamon to a pulp.

"What awesome photos!" Matt said, standing behind Izzy and watching the small screen. "Great job Kari!"

"It was nothing." She replied. "Just thought I'd catch a few memories of the action."

"Ahem." TK said mockfully. "Sister, I'm afraid I have you beat." He held up a small digital camera. "You might have gotten some nice still photos, but I got the whole thing from our end on film." He rotated the small sidescreen on the camera outwards and pressed a tiny button along the right side.

"Should we be standing so close?" Yolei's voice emitted from the small speakers on the side. The camera was focused on three massive GigaSeadramon, their long bodies partially out of the sand, their heads looking about and firing energy blasts at seemingly the sky.

"They don't even know we're here with them distracting him." Tai's voice came.

The camera zoomed out slightly, and it could now be seen that the GigaSeadramons were firing at four digimon flying above it's heads, WarGreymon, Seraphimon, and a pair of Phoenixmon. A massive orange orb of energy crashed into the necks of one of the beasts, knocking it back down and crashing into the sand. Seven orbs of energy collided with the head of another one, nearly forcing it to retract back into the hole in the sand from whence it came.

"I am so putting this on youtube when I get home." TK's voice rang through the speakers.

"What was that?" Came Sora's voice.

"...nothing!" TK said quickly.

A series of flames beat down on the trio of snakes. They attempted to fight back with energy torpedos, one of which hit WarGreymon, but any damage done appeared to be minor. WarGreymon dived down at great speed, slashing through the fleshy necks of the three beasts, finishing the fight.

"ChaChing!" They heard Tai say. Then, the film ending.

"Nice work Spielburg." Ken said. He put his hand out for TK to shake. Unconcerned, TK put his out as well, but when they met, Ken pulled him up close to his face. "If I see this video on youtube, or otherwise distributed over the internet, or distributed in any way, I will cut off your balls and feed them to you!" He hissed quietly. "Are we clear?"

"I was kidding!" TK yelped. He felt Ken squeeze his crotch area. "Jesus Christ dude! Stop that!" He whispered.

"Glad we understand each other." He pushed TK back. "Now, thanks to the exploits of group one, the mega digimon stage is no longer blocked off to us. Every last one of our digimon are now capable of reaching the stage."

"It's possible that the Emperor could reverse what we did." Davis said grimly. "All we did was rub a lit match over de-activated portions of a dozen symbols. I'm sure that's fairly easy to reverse."

"We'll worry about that another time. For now, we have a dozen megas at our disposal. A significant upgrade, but again, it's moot if we can't pull off this heist in two days. I've instructed all untainted digimon to go hide out at an underwater base I constructed. They'll be safe there for awhile, and now they're all in one place for us to call on. Tomorrow we'll go check it out for ourselves and see if we can't escort any more digimon to it. If we can secure a bunch of allies that'd be very significant."

"Of course." Kari said. "And tomorrow we'll go over the precise plan, right?"

"Yes." Ken replied, nodding.

"I still think this is a brick wall. One day of planning and preparation won't do a damn thing." Izzy lamented.

"We don't have a choice." Ken reinterated. "If we don't pull this off, the fight is over. He's won. We've lost." He walked up to Izzy and stopped just a few inches in front of him. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"I'm just saying...maybe we could talk to Azulongmon and take out a loan or something." Izzy trailed off pathetically.

"Azulongmon hasn't got a thing on the Emperor, and you know it. He might talk a big game, and he's got quite a bit of power, but at the end of the day, he's just an overpowered mega. The Emperor has enough gas to create at least two thousand digimon as strong as Azulongmon." Ken spat. "No one can help us now."

"Alright, alright." Izzy said. "But I think you're underestimating Azulongmon. He's not a normal digimon. And he can call on greater powers to enhance his abilities. You might be surprised."

"Whatever." Ken said. "Alright, I want everyone to meet at Davis's house tomorrow at nine. We've got alot of planning to do." He bowed and gestured at the door. "Dismissed."


	11. The Heist

Chapter Eleven: The Heist

A/N: Yes, I'm well aware I stole this heist method from...somewhere. If you watch movies you'll probably be able to tell pretty easily. But it's a hell of a heist, I like it, and I'm not a criminal mastermind who can attempt to rob a casino vault several times until I find an original method that works, so bleh. I hope you'll forgive me. And if you haven't seen...the movie, all the better.

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"Run the check again." Izzy said, reaching with his thumb and forefinger into a red package of skittles, grabbing a green one and throwing it into his mouth.

"I just ran it. What do you think is gonna happen? It's already been there for over twenty-four hours, I think it's safe to say we're good." Tai insisted, folding his arms over his chest.

"Just do it." Izzy mumbled, eyes darting between several different computer screens laid out in front of him. "It'll make me feel better. That's what's gonna happen."

"Alright." Tai slapped down on the keyboard, hitting a few choice keys. "The CCTV hack and radio wave hack are still implemented and undetected." He said. "We have full access into both systems."

Davis held a bulky black radio up to his mouth, sitting back on the bed in his room. "Number Four, good news. A full day after the insertion, both hacks are running without a hitch. Your role in this job is over. If we all live through this, expect a nice payday."

"Thank you." Came the crackly reply.

"Does anyone else find it extremely condesending that we're calling the digimon by numbers?" Kari said, seated on the floor by the bed. "I mean, just call him Agumon. The numbers thing makes it seem so impersonal."

"Quiet." Ken said in a low whisper, kneeling on the foot of the bed. "It's almost time." He looked around at everyone strewn about the room, now turning to look at him. "I'll need full concentration for this, so nobody attempt to talk to me or disrupt me until this is over. The Emperor is very much in tune with everything that goes on around him. I'll need every last bit of my strength to conceal our deception. I hope you all have memorized the plan, because you won't be able to talk to me again until we're out."

Everyone slowly nodded. Ken raised the rod up in front of him, pointing up at the ceiling, and then closed his eyes. For a moment, everyone looked at him. Then, the orb of the rod began to glow, and everyone turned back to the matter at hand.

"Number eight, we have a go." Davis spoke into the radio. As he said this, a Gatzumon, bearing a small badge sewn onto his chest that marked him as a member of the casino staff, walked into view on the camera watching the elevator. Two other members of the staff flanked the silver, massive up-and-down transport, a pair of Mamemon. The Gatzumon was wheeling a large steel box, perhaps four feet tall and a foot wide, up to the elevator casually.

He got adjacent to the two Mamemon, who glared down at him, then suddenly violently grabbed his stomach. "Oh...jeez!" He moaned, the sound of the attempted deception ringing through the speakers that had been rigged all around the room. "I gotta go...can you guys take care of this?" He grunted before running off wildly, still gripping his belly.

Nervously, everyone watched as the Mamemon looked at each other, then down at the metal box between them. One of them began to talk. "Should we?"

"Hold on, lemme see." The other said, pulling a plastic wand out from his belt. He began to wave it around by the sides of the metal box. Sora began to bite her nails. Joe reached into his pants' pocket and removed a small white box of Rolaids. He ripped it open and grabbed one of the tablets, throwing it into his mouth.

"It's good. I'll take it." The Mamemon said, grabbing the handlebar with one hand and zipping a key card through the slot on the left of the elevator with the other. "I'll be right back." The doors slid open and he wheeled the cart into the large room. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the doors slid back closed, taking the Mamemon and the steel box down to the depths below.

"Phase One Complete." Matt hissed from the corner, nodding. "Very nice."

"The main fight starts in about two minutes." TK said, looking at his watch. "C'mon, pick it up!"

"We're looking good. Hold on a second." Izzy said, clacking a couple of keys in front of him. One of the screens went blue, specifically, the one that showed the inside of the large elevator. The Mamemon was standing there casually, glowing red and yellow on the screen. The steel box was glowing a powerful green. The elevator came to a halt. One layer of the elevator door slid open, but a second behind it remained shut. A number pad was embedded into the left side of it. Leaning in so the camera couldn't see his actions, he began to press the keys with his stubby fingers.

"Did it take?" Yolei asked warily.

A pause followed as the door opened and the Mamemon wheeled the cart out. The green substance had transferred over to the hands of the Mamemon. Izzy held his breath as the doors closed. Luckily, he was able to make out a series of green impressions on the number pad.

"Hell yes!" Izzy rejoiced. "Alright...eight, three, four, zero, six, seven, eight. We've got the code!"

"Are you sure they can't tell?" Cody asked.

"Not in a million years." Izzy grinned. "Alright. Davis, call it in."

"Number One, it's a go." Davis whispered into the radio. On one of the screens, a security guard Agumon suddenly began to walk briskly down the hallways of the back area of the facility.

"Three...two...one." Izzy muttered, punctuating the one with a press of the enter key.

"Number Three, go!" Davis said into the radio. One of the screens showed a small explosion on one of the craps tables next to the elevator, generating a split second of panic among the staff and customers. But, as is the nature of casinos, when the explosion was shown to be generated from an angry gambler, a DemiDevimon, who was already being carried off, everyone went back to their usual business.

He smiled at the sight of one of the screens on the right side displaying a green _Success_ icon. "The screens inside the guardposts now display only empty hallways."

"Alright. Number One, you are clear to board the elevator." Davis said. The other Mamemon, having been close to the explosion, had bolted over to the table to deal with the issue. The Agumon, bearing the crest of a staff member, drew no special attention from anyone as he swiped his card through the slot and entered the elevator as the doors opened. Those who knew he wasn't authorized were either distracted or watching a false loop on a TV screen.

As soon as the doors shut, the Agumon hit the 'stop' button on the button pad. Quickly and nimbly, the Agumon leaped up the elevator and onto the ceiling. A panel came open and he slid out.

He climbed up onto the top of the elevator, the digidestined now turning their focus to a screen that showed things from the Agumon's viewpoint. He looked over the edge of the elevator, down into the shaft. A series of red laser beams crossed the shaft several times.

"If we trip one of those, the alarms go off, and it's all over." Izzy whispered. "Davis, do it."

"Number Seven, pull!" Davis read off into the radio. A second later, quite suddenly, all the screens went black as the power supplying the building failed. They could hear the sounds of chaos as all hell broke loose in the darkness. But more importantly, they could hear the Agumon beginning an acrobatic journey down the shaft, which was now laser-free.

"Perfect." TK said, looking at his watch. "The fight started no less than thirty seconds ago."

A few more moments passed, everyone waiting with bated breath. Then, the lights began to come back on. "Twenty Seconds. Just as we planned." Izzy said smoothly.

The Agumon was standing on the bottom of the elevator shaft, the lasers re-activating above his head. Fights were breaking out in the audience of the fight, the bar, and the casino, as people attempted to use the cover of darkness to steal chips, wallets, and other such valuables.

"It's almost too good to be true." Kari said under her breath. "It's just as we planned. Not a single problem to date."

"The hard part hasn't come up yet." Tai responded. "The last part is the killer."

"Okay, Number One, input the code in the elevator door. It's eight, three, four, zero, six, seven, eight. Remember, as soon as the door opens, fire away." Davis uttered into the radio.

Everyone turned to a screen at the bottom of the set of the screens. This provided a view of the elevator door from the outside. The silver doors slid open a crack, and immediately a tiny black dart shot out. In a flash, it had hit the vault door down the hall. Before the two Meramon guards could react to the development, the dart exploded in a puff of white gas. Instantly, the pair of Meramons feel to the ground unconscious.

"Bada bing!" Sora exclaimed. "Almost in."

"Number Two, go for it." Davis instructed, swallowing hard.

Everyone turned their focus to a screen on the left, which showed the inside of the vault itself. The steel box which the Mamemon had just wheeled in, which was among an assortment of other steel boxes that looked exactly the same, popped open at the top and a Pixiemon flew out.

"Remember, no touching the floor." Davis whispered as the Pixiemon flew over to the vault door, holding four tiny octagonal gems. Slowly, he began to stick them onto the door, one in the top left, another in the top right, the third in the bottom left, and the final in the bottom right.

"Very good. Number One, proceed." Davis spoke. Everyone turned back to the screen near the bottom. The Agumon was shown, placing his own quartet of tiny baubles on the gleaming vault door.

"If they're not perfectly lined up, it's not gonna work." Izzy said. "Be careful."

Kari looked down at the floor at a small black device with a thin screen running along the time. Currently, it showed a constant, strong red. And then, suddenly, it began to flash green. "It's good to go."

"Alright." Davis snapped his fingers excitedly, then raised the radio back up to his lips. "Get clear." The screens showed the Agumon and Pixiemon backing up from the massive door.

Kari hit a large black button at the base of the device on the floor, and the two sets of gems exploded at the same time, erupting like high calibur bullets.

Everyone stared at the screens for a second, afraid that the door had held. But then, the hinges gave way and the heavy door swung open slightly.

Nobody spoke for a moment. Then, Izzy reached over to a small MP3 player next to the keyboard and pressed it's front lightly. The _1812 Overture_ began to play.

"Hold it." Matt said. "Let's save the music for when we actually have the stuff."

"Yeah. Besides, I have a phone call to make." TK said, reaching up and grabbing a red cell phone off the book table beside him. "Time for the money shot."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Cory walked briskly down the dark, concrete hallway, flashing geniune anger, nerves pulsing within his face. He held a small radio within his hand, and was constantly bringing it up to his mouth whenever he had something new to say.

"Is it honestly too much to ask for one night of perfection? Of all things to ruin fight night, a power outage-"

He was cut off. "Something took out everything." Came the voice from the other side.

"Meaning what?" Cory demanded, stopping in the hallway suddenly.

"It's the damnest thing. We had secondary and emergency power ready to roll within a split second of any power outage. But they all went out at once. We had to wire power from the vault to get back up and running."

Cory blinked slowly. "Hence the twenty-or-so second delay?"

"Yes."

Cory looked at the hall wall across from him, then began to take large steps further down the hallway, his speed picking up.

"Lock this facilty down." He said into the speaker spicily. "Nobody in or out. We're being robbed."

"Well, maybe someone tried, but they failed." The voice said confidently. "I'm looking at a video feed of the vault right now, and there isn't a damn thing going on."

"All the same, that power outage was staged." He hissed through gritted teeth, taking a right down another bland corridor. "I'm almost to the main room. I want to find out exactly what's going on in my facility."

And then, from within his outside jacket chest pocket, a faint ring sounded. He froze, startled by the sound for some reason. Slowly, he reached up into it, grabbing it by the antenna and pulling it out. He took a deep breath, then flipped the microphone out.

"How did you get this number?" He said flatly, trying to keep any trace of fear from his voice.

"I don't think that's important." Came the cocky response, silky smooth. He recognized it as one of the digidestined. TK, he was called.

"Very well, Takeru." Cory said in a low voice. "What is important?" He began walking down the hall again.

"Important?" A short pause. "I currently have men, or mon if you prefer, inside your facility's vault. Does that qualify as important?"

"I doubt it." Cory said, even as he swept down the hall towards a door jutting out on his left side. "Lies never struck me as of particular importance."

"Who's lieing?" TK asked rhetorically.

Cory rammed his hand down onto the doorknob lever and threw the door open, walking into the large room, one wall paved with television screens. A Monzaemon was pacing around at the back of the room and several Numemon were manning stations of keyboards. The room, like the halls, was made of boring concrete that hadn't even been painted, the electronic devices

"Show me the vault." He said quietly to the Monzaemon, putting the microphone of the cell against his chest.

"Bring the vault up!" He cried to the sea of Numemon. The several screens merged into one massive one as a display of a perfectly ordinary vault was showed. Several dozen steel boxes were arranged around the room in neat rows. The green lasers that covered the floor glowed. The impeccable white walls, floors and ceilings looked almost freshly painted.

"As I said, boy." Cory said, bringing the microphone back up to his mouth. "I don't know what you've been doing to cope with the thought of your inevitable defeat, but I'm afraid it's caused you to...hallucinate, perhaps?"

"The funny thing about technology, Cory." Suddenly, the screen blinked, and the immaculate vault was replaced with one being ravaged by a Floramon and Cockatrimon. "It's never, ever trustworthy."

Cory stared at the screen for several seconds, glancing over the open steel boxes, the deactivated force field on the floor, and the wide open vault door. The Floramon and Cockatrimon were grabbing the crystals out of the steel boxes and loading them into black gym bags. There was little he could do to keep frustration and anger from his tone.

"Very good, TK. Very good." He hissed. "I hope you'll be sending me a tape of how you managed all this."

"Perhaps, in time. I'm not gonna lie, it's some good stuff." TK sighed. "As you know, you currently have a little under five thousand crystals in the vault. A little irresponsible of you, I think, keeping so much of it in such a compromisable area."

"And a little premature of you, I think, to make this call before you're clear of the area." Cory spat back. "You have a rookie digimon and a champion digimon, trapped inside a vault, with five thousand crystals in bags. It's well within my power to shut down the elevator, and I have already locked this facility down. I have tens of thousands of digimon who are willing to die for me at my disposal. How, exactly, do you intend to transfer these crystals to your person?"

A short pause. "Well, Cory, I'm calling in a favor. I want _you_ to help me transport the crystals out."

Cory snickered. "That's nice. Can I call the death commandos down to the vault now, or do you have anything else you want to say? They're not going anywhere."

"Take a very close look at...oh, the bottom left of your screen. You'll notice we left a crystal to the side. It's right there, laying on the floor." Cory snapped his fingers at the Monzaemon, and a moment later, that portion of the screen was zoomed in on. "Do you see that small electronic device attached to the side? It's blinking, right on the middle, see it?"

Cory licked his lips, his eyes on the small device. "I see it."

"Ken created it, all by himself. He's such a bright little boy." TK said casually. "Anyway, it's a most interesting explosive device. You see, when activated, it...let's say magically...connects with all of your power crystals within a fifty foot radius. Specifically, every single crystal within your vault. I have the magic button right in front of me, so it'd be very easy for me to blow everything. The crystals, the vault, and the facility."

Cory blinked, looking around the room, feeling very much like kicking one of the members of his security squad. "Creative. Go on."

"As you can see, I have two rookie digimon inside the vault that mean nothing to me. I would have no problem sacrificing them if you refuse to cooperate." TK snickered through the connection.

"I don't very much like being told what to do." Cory said sourly. "But...continue."

"Alright." TK took in a deep breath. "As you can see, the digimon are bagging only half the crystals inside the vault. Which equals a little less than two thousand five hundred I believe. Now, in a minute here, they will send twenty-five black gym bags, each containing a hundred crystals, up the elevator. I want a baker's dozen of your staff members to pick them up when they reach the top. These digimon will carry the bags through the facility, out to the main entrance, acting as if this is completely normal of course. When they arrive, a white van will pull up to the front. Your digimon will load the bags in the back, and allow the van to pull away. If you attempt to make a switch of bags or deviate from this schedule in any way, I will blow everything. I will call you back after all this is done for farewells. Are we clear?"

Cory looked around the security room for a few moments. "And I'm supposed to...take your word for it that you won't blow my half after you're clear with your half?"

"Ken said you'd say that." TK said. "You see, the explosive device is permanent. It has bonded with all five thousand crystals in the saferoom, and nothing can break this bond. Basically, if I blow one crystal, I have to blow them all. You allow me to get clear with my half, I'll allow you access back to your half, and you may remove the explosive device."

"How nice of you." Cory said throatily. "But you've overlooked something very important. I would much rather see twenty percent of my power supply be destroyed than give ten percent to the likes of you. I'm sure you understand why."

"Are you quite sure?" TK said, snickering again. "It's more than just twenty percent. I'm destroying the crystals, the facility, and every single digimon within it. Are you really comfortable with so many of your customers being killed?"

Cory swallowed hard. "Clearly you don't understand. This conversation is over. You'll just have to blow it."

"Cory, we're talking about a five thousand crystal explosion." TK said quickly. "You may be powerful...but are you completely comfortable with your own ability to survive such a blast?"

Cory blinked hard several times, looking at the vault on screen. "I have to admit...I didn't expect this from you." He hissed. "Maybe it's the blonde hair, but I don't think you could hurt a fly."

"Try me." TK said daringly. "The button is right here in front of me."

"Alright. You've obviously put alot of thought and work into this." He took a deep, settling breath and closed his eyes. "Prepare your van."

"That's a good boy. Now say it in a girl's voice." TK teased.

Cory brought the phone down, slammed his thumb down on a button along the right side, and hurled it across the room. He stood there, hands on his lips, taking a couple of breaths. "Monzaemon. I'll try and be reasonable. I'd like to know exactly how they got into our cameras, how they got into our vault, how they got down the elevator, how they got past the guards...pretty much everything...in two hours." He brought the radio from his belt up to his mouth. "Twenty five bags are coming up the elevator as we speak." He began, heading for the door of the room briskly. "Have them transported to the entrance, then-"

He froze, halfway through the door, then looked over at his cell phone against the wall.

"Someone get me that." He said absentmindedly, pointing at it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you think he might actually do it?" Davis asked as TK hung the phone up. "Because I had my suspicions..."

"It was worth a shot." TK shrugged.

"Hell yeah it was." Tai snickered. "Alright, here comes the staff..."

They watched closely as several digimon picked the large black bags up and began carrying them through the hallways of the facility, past hundreds of unsuspecting digimon who had since been calmed down after the power outage. They followed their trail on the camera system, watching them move from room to room.

"We're so close." Matt said, a slight squeak in his voice. "It's so...beautiful."

"Almost done. Let's not lose it now." Sora said warily.

The transports were shown on the camera just outside the facility by the entrance. The white van slowly pulled up alongside the curb. Robotically, the digimon moved to the back, pulled the double doors open, and tossed the bags into the back.

"Shoulda told them to be careful." Yolei said. "I dunno, but I imagine they could break."

"I don't think so. I mean, they're made of pure power. I'm sure it'd coat itself in a nice layer of teflon-" TK began.

"Quiet!" Izzy hissed. "It's time for the money shot."

The van was loaded, shut, and driven off. As soon as it was out of sight, TK hit redial on the phone and placed it up to his ear. It took less than half a ring for the pickup.

"Very good." TK said. "Feel free to enter your vault anytime and do what you will."

"You don't care what happens to the digimon down there?" Cory asked. "How coldhearted."

"They're good soldiers. They knew the risks." TK said calmly. "Again, do what you will."

"Well, that's good. Because I'm going to watch them die with..._great_ satisfaction. I imagine, a year or two from now, I'll be doing the same with you, as you've only managed to delay the inevitable. See you then."

The dialtone kicked in, and Cory threw the phone over his shoulder. He pulled the small radio up to his lips again. "Team F, prepare to raid the vault and deal with two hostiles inside. As soon as you get in, find a crystal with an electronic explosive attached and disarm it." He twisted the knob on top of the radio. "Team D, as soon as I give the word, I want you to pursue the van. Use whatever force you feel you need, the contents cannot be...easily harmed."

------------------------------------------------------------

"We're at the bottom of the shaft. Opening the door." Came the voice over the radio. "Cut the power...now!"

Cory pointed at the Chuumon on a console, and he pressed a button. The lights to the hallway to the vault, and subsequent vault, were cut. The door slid open, and a series of abrasive gunshots filled the speakers linked to the cameras. Indistingushable words were exchanged, then screams sounded off.

This went on for about a minute until the head commando finally called in. "Restore power."

The lights came back on. A bloody Floramon and Cockatrimon corpse were shown on the floor. The team of digimon were moving about the vault slowly, checking for any other intruders behind boxes.

"We're clear." He finally said. "What now?"

Cory sucked on the bottom of his lip. "Leave the bodies. Is the explosive disarmed?"

"Yessir." The reply came.

"Then get out of there." He hissed. He flipped the radio over to another frequency. "Get the van!"

------------------------------------------------------------

Some miles away, the van was racing through the desert that surrounded the machine city. A Gigadramon and Megadramon were pursuing through the air, and a half-dozen Tankmon provided ground attention. They were firing away madly at the speeding van. The vehicle, however, proved to be very fast and well-armored.

"Shoot the tires! Tires!" One of the Tankmon roared. The eight digimon took aim and fired explosive shells at the ground around the van. After a few errant shots, the tires of the van went flat, turned violently, and rolled over onto its back.

"Got em!" The Megadramon roared, flying right for it. The speeding Tankmon and Gigadramon followed hastily, eager to reclaim the contents.

Then, they got within five meters of it, and it simply erupted into a fireball. The agents of the Emperor were thrown back against the sand, bearing new black marks from the power of the explosion.

Quick as a flash, however, they regained their bearings and looked at the destroyed van.

"Ummm...sir?" The Gigadramon said.

"What?" Cory said, annoyance clearly hanging onto his every word.

"We got the van." He continued awkwardly, looking at the small flyers fluttering out the back of the van. "It's..." he grabbed one of the flyers as it attempted to float away. It bore a picture of a Renamon poledancing, a **Cheap Poledancers** caption along the bottom, and a phone number right below it. "...flyers. The van is full of flyers for hookers." He said slowly. "You wanted flyers of cheap hookers?"

He heard the crunching noise of the receiver at the other end being crushed, which supplied his answer.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Cory stormed into the vault, walking straight up to one of the steel boxes. In a fluid, single motion, he ripped the top off and peered inside. The Monzaemon followed him slowly into the vault, just in time to see Cory reach in and pull out more of the same Renamon Hooker advertisements.

To be quite sure, Cory stormed over to two other boxes and pulled them open, revealing more. He slammed the lids shut and gave the box a vicious kick.

"Son of a bitch." He hissed.

"How?" Was all the Monzaemon could think to say. "I...I thought-"

"Yes. You thought. That's the problem." Cory said, his voice shaking as he stormed out of the vault. "You should do that less. They hacked into our radio system, somehow. And yes, I blame you." He began looking around the hall slowly, starring at the white walls. "When I called the commandos down into the vault, the call got...bounced to the digidestined. They sent their own men down into the vault, disguised as my commandos, used the darkness as cover to finish the heist, then snuck out, completely unsuspected and undetected." Cory kicked the wall hard. "Shit!" His face had been deformed by the constant grimace he had been wearing for the last half hour.

"But we saw the tape!" The Monzaemon insisted. "We would have seen-"

"Those tapes..." he kicked the wall again, causing the Monzaemon to wince, "...were faked!" He blinked hard. "They duplicated my vault and recorded everything inside there, then looped it to us." He rubbed his forehead. "Jesus...the crystal bagging was all faked. They might have never even broken into the vault in the first place." He walked up to and kicked the vault door, creating a massive dent.

The Monzaemon put his hand to his chin. "Wait! How could the commandos transport five thousand crystals without us-"

"Magic." Cory said sarcastically. He ripped a tiny pouch off his belt and tossed it to the large digimon, who caught it. "Reach inside."

The Monzaemon did so slowly, with it's right hand, and found that he could easily reach his entire hand in, even though the bag couldn't have been more than six inches long.

"They probably carried it out in fanny packs." He said bitterly. "I don't know how they managed to pull all this off."

"I'll pursue the commandos!" The Monzaemon said hurriedly. "We can catch em!"

"No we can't." He licked his lips. "They're already gone." He began to walk up to the elevator. "Just clean up and figure out how this happened."

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, my, my." TK said slowly, as small fanny pack after small fanny pack came out of the glowing computer screen and landed on the bed. "Ken, wake up, you'll want to see this." He tapped Ken on the shoulder.

Ken came out of his trance, and smiled. "Good job, boys." He grabbed one of the packs close to him and opened it up. He turned it over, zipper pointed down, and began to dump the contents out. Dozens of crystals began piling out. "Whoo!" He whooped.

"Pretty!" Kari said.

"Pretty?" Tai said skeptically. "The hell?"

"Well...they're like diamonds!" Kari exclaimed. "It's very pretty!"

Davis grabbed two of the crystals off the bed and kissed them violently. "I can't believe we pulled it off!"

"It wasn't easy." Ken said dismissively, aiming his rod orb at the pile of crystals. They began to absorb themselves within the rod. "Blocking his mind so he wouldn't notice the deception. Took every bit of power I had. But..." he looked at the orb of his rod, glowing a scarlet red "...it was worth it."

"Cake for everyone!" Sora exclaimed, walking up to the chair in the corner of the room and removing her jacket. Under the fabric was an ice cream cake inside a plastic cover.

"Alright!" Cody cheered.

Matt dived in the pile of crystals, throwing them up in the air happily. "I feel...rich!" 

"We are rich!" Ken corrected. "Ladies, gentlemen, tomorrow we begin a new era of the digidestined." He continued to absorb crystals as everyone stood around and applauded. "We have new hope now, and tomorrow, we go on the offensive."

Everyone put their hands together in the middle of the room and let loose a powerful cheer.

------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm bumping up the schedule." Cory said saucily, walking across the room quickly, looking at the large capsule in the center of the plain room. "It's going down tomorrow."

"Hold it." The voice came from the capsule. "Think about this now-"

"He's pissed me off." Cory said hoarsely. "I'm a sensitive man. He's severly hurt my pride." He went up to the wall of the room and slapped it with his fist. A panel popped out, revealing a medium-sized golden revolver and six rounds. "Besides, I'm more than ready."

"We planned it a particular way. I'd like to stick to that." Said the voice.

"It's more than pride." Cory hissed. "Ken cleaned out my facility tonight. Right under my nose. If I let him do what he wants for too long, I'll have half the digital world recruited against me!" He grabbed the revolver and began loading the rounds into the chamber. "No. We strike tomorrow. I want to make this...setback irrelevant as soon as I can."

"If that's what you want." The capsule sighed. "Just be sure you really are ready."

"Of course I'm ready! I have six loyal megas ready for the job, and I have this!" He thrust the fully loaded revolver at the capsule. "What else do I need?"

"That's not your ordinary gun." The voice warned.

"Well, I'm not your ordinary person." Cory responded smartly. "By this time tomorrow, I'll have completely forgotten about this...heist." He spat the final word, as if disgusted by how it sounded. "I like the sound of that."


	12. Death of a Titan

Chapter Twelve: Death of a Titan

"Wormmon, what are you doing?" Ken asked from the bathroom, hearing the general sounds of chaos in the living room. "Are you in heat?"

"I'm a male!" Wormmon cried, even as another telltale crash sounded off. Ken winced. It sounded like a lamp.

He pulled his pants up slowly, afraid to look out. "Then what's going on?" He said, trying to sound casual, but his voice came out slightly high-pitched.

"We're playing ultimate frisbee." Veemon responded enthusiastically, even as the dull clunk of what might have been the coffee table hitting the floor rang through the air.

"Oh. That's nice." Ken said, beginning to stroll casually out of the bathroom. "Where'd you get the-"

He peered around the edge of the wall and into the living room, his heart nearly exploding as he saw the large black disk fly through the air. After a split second of being unable to move, he exploded out into the room.

"STOP!" He screamed, watching the record fly into the arms of Palmon. "Not my LPs!"

Palmon watched the record into her hands, then stared at Ken as he ran up to her and gently pulled it away from her. "I told you, Wormmon, never touch my records!" He hissed, slowly turning up to Wormmon, standing on top of the touch.

"It's cool. I used a blank." Wormmon said casually.

"There's no such thing as a blank record!" Ken spat, his right eye twitching as he looked around for the plastic record case.

"But the casing was white." Wormmon said innocently, reaching down behind the couch cushions and pulling out an all-white record sleeve.

"That's because it's the_ white_ album!" Ken said through gritted teeth, marching up to Wormmon and roughly snatching the sleeve from his tiny hands and sliding the record back in. "I nearly cried when I found this at a garage sale!" Ken said, his voice high-pitched and warbling. "You can't buy these anywhere, they're very rare and expensive!"

"Sorry." Wormmon said, although his voice showcased a hint of annoyance at Ken's obsessive love for his record collection.

"Well, no harm, no foul." Ken reasoned, shrugging. "But don't touch my records!" He finished, pointing vehemently at Wormmon as he began walking towards his bedroom.

He strode in powerfully, his eyes beating down on Davis, sitting in the windowsill. Davis was leaning back into the small segment of wall that was created by the nook the window was in, his eyes closed. Ken, feeling rather violent at the moment, decided to slowly slide the record into the bottom rung of his bookshelf first.

"I told you to watch them!" Ken exasperated as Davis's eyes popped open. "They're very restless after the last two days, it's like having...a dozen cats in heat! You have to watch them!" He pointed at the bedroom door.

"It's cool. I checked a minute ago. They were playing ultimate frisbee with a blank record." Davis said sleepily.

Ken stared at Davis for a few seconds, seemingly trying to summon a laser from his eyeballs to melt through Davis's chest and destroy his heart. When this failed, he lunged forward and grabbed Davis by the neck.

"Blank record?" Ken said vehemently. "Blank record?" His fingers were wrapped tightly around Davis's neck, restricting any possibility of talking or breathing. "That was a rare LP of _The White Album_, you jackass. There's no such _thing _as a blank record, you uncultured, irresponsible, son of a-"

"Ken, put him down." TK said lazily, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I imagine we'll need him at some point."

But Ken wouldn't put Davis down, even as his face began to turn blue. Davis tried to kick out, but Ken was ready, and threw his hips back to evade the attack. Finally, Tai came up from behind and grabbed Ken, ripping his hands away from Davis's throat.

"C'mon, man. Innocent mistake!" Tai insisted, even as Ken continued to breathe heavily.

"Jesus!" Davis gasped, rubbing his neck. "You coulda killed me! What's your problem?" 

"Oh, I would have let you go after you passed out." Ken said, looking up at the ceiling as if commenting on the weather. "Davis. I have so little in this world. I don't think it's too much to ask that my extremely rare set of Beatles LPs are not touched, ever, under any circumstance barring straight permission from me." He pointed down at his bookshelf at the set of several record sleeves.

"Who gives a damn? You can just download the songs off the internet." Davis retorted, still clutching his throat.

Ken took up the deadly stare again, and his fingers flexed into claws as he tried to stare a hole through Davis's head. Tai saw what was coming and grabbed Ken from the backside again.

"C'mon, let it go." Tai whispered into Ken's ear. "He's young, stupid, doesn't know any better!"

Ken paused, then relaxed his glare and hands. "Very well. I'll let it go this time." He shot a warning glance at Davis before slowly heading over to the computer.

"You have the whole set?" Kari asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah." Ken said indifferently, powering up his computer. "_Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, With The Beatles..._all the way up to _Abbey Road _and _Let it Be._"

"Well, I'll be damned." Kari commented, looking at the bottom of the bookshelf with pursed lips. "Do you have any idea how much the contents of that shelf are worth?" She asked Ken.

"Yes." Ken replied, his voice silky and smooth. "It's not about the money, darling. I wouldn't trade my LPs for all the gold in Fort Knox."

"Well, I dunno if you'll fetch _that_." Kari conceded. "But if you found the right buyer we could be talking hundreds of thousands of dollars for the whole set."

"Hundreds of thousands?!" Davis exploded, going red and looking at the shelf of records. "You're kidding?! For records?" 

"Oh, those things are rare. Especially in a collection all by themself, in such good condition." Kari said wonderously.

Davis stared at the records for a few moments, then turned to Ken as the desktop came up on screen. "Dude, I am so, _so_ sorry about that. I really should have stopped them, I...I don't know what I was thinking-"

"It's okay. Somehow, someway, the record was completely unharmed, so I'm all for letting it slide." Ken said majestically.

"No, no, I don't think...I mean, I nearly ruined your collection...you want something?" He asked, backing towards the bedroom door. "I can...make something. I dunno...eggs? Hash browns?"

"You can stop now." Ken said, smiling inspite of himself, turning towards Davis.

"You know what? I'll...make something, I dunno. I'll be right back." He bolted out the bedroom door, slamming it as he took off down the hallway.

"That kid's a piece of work." Ken said, nodding. "A real piece of work."

"I know." TK said. "So...hundreds of thousands, you say?" He repeated, looking down at the shelf.

"Oh, maybe. Gotta find the right person, but LPs are very rare in this day and age. And such a legendary band, to have an entire collection of albums...me, I'd sell my kidneys for such a set." Ken said dreamily.

"Okay!" Matt said suddenly from the corner of the room, clapping his hands together. "We've just defied million-to-one odds to buy us...maybe a year. What's up now?"

"Well, I'm not wasting a second." Ken enthused, looking at the computer screen. "Basically, every single digimon in the digital world is either in the living room, hiding out in our base, or in the employ of the Emperor. As such, I want to march right in there and create a big impression."

"Well we can't just...blow up anything." Izzy said cautiously. "Really, that makes us no different from-"

"I wasn't thinking that." Ken interrupted. "You see, the moment we step foot in the digital world, I fully expect a massive force of extremely powerful digimon to be at our throat, as the Emperor is no doubt still extremely mad over last night." He gave a debonair smirk at the reminder of his finest hour. "We should repel this attack with great authority, and make it look easy to leave an impression."

"Easy? What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked.

"

"Winning is one thing. Style, grace, and elegance are entirely different things, and can make all the difference. If I take down two dozen megas with my pinky finger, that looks mighty impressive. If I do it while reading _Catcher In the Rye_, all the better! You have to make it look good to make a real impression. I can't stand around sweating and charging up for fifteen minutes like in DragonBall Z, it has to...be pretty!" Ken spoke with great authority, like a playwright might.

"Fair enough." Cody agreed. "Then?"

"We charge right in and go into attack mode!" Ken said, punching his fist out emphatically. "I want to hunt down the minions of this Emperor and humiliate them! I want to let him know I'm just as good as he is and am willing to go for it in the longhaul!"

Davis stepped in meekly, carrying a plate of food. "I...I made some...jelly-filled biscuit things." He said quietly.

"Oh, very nice." Ken said, swiftly walking over to the door and grabbing the plate. "Alright, let's do this." He gestured at the computer even as he grabbed a biscuit and put it into his mouth.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright. We're here." TK said, looking around at the stretches of sand for miles and miles. "I don't see any massive attack force." He managed to catch a glimpse of a small town off in the distance. "In fact, I think there are digimon playing in that town." He said slowly, point off towards it. "If I was a minion of the Emperor, I wouldn't be playing hopscotch."

"Yeah, you'd think so." Ken said casually, whipping the rod out from his belt. "Curious, isn't it?" He flicked the rod in the direction of the town, and it exploded in a mushrooming fireball, creating shockwaves felt by even them so many miles away.

TK stared blankly at the town for a second, then spun around to face Ken. "You _idiot!_" He strode up to Ken and stopped a few inches away from him. "We have no idea who they were, they could have been with us! They could have been neutral! How could you just blow up-"

"Blow up? Who? What? Blow up what?" Ken said quickly, spinning around and twisting his head about, his hand against his forehead, parallel to him, pretending to try and see better. "I don't see anything blowing up. Do you?"

TK opened his mouth and turned back to the destroyed town, only to find it was de-destroyed. The digimon were back to what appeared to be playing, no sign of destruction was visible, and it seemed as if the town was back the way it was exactly before the eruption.

TK glared at the town for a moment, licking his lips, then went back to Ken. "Okay, umm..." he rubbed his eyes, "...normally, I'd be laughing right next to you, but this is really, _really_ not the time for-"

He felt an unusual gust of wind on his legs, and looked down to see his pants were gone. He just blankly looked down at his bare legs for a second, then snapped back up to face Ken. "Give me my pants!" He said quietly, yet sharply.

"Pants? Pants? What pants?" Ken again began to spin around and imitate the actions of one looking around. "Your pants? You had pants? I didn't know you were wearing pants!" He looked at the rest of the digidestined, who had gathered a few feet away, watching with bemused interest. "Did anyone else see his pants?"

"Give. Me. My pants!" TK said, curling his hands into fists.

"Weeeelllll...I don't have _your_ pants, but-" He gave his rod a quick flick, and TK was donned in a pair of short, tight, purple pants that failed to cover his calves. He winced as the fabric rode up on his crotch, then glared back at Ken.

"I want _my_ pants!" He hissed, tugging at the waistband of the purple pants.

"Your pants? You want your pants?" Ken said sarcastically, starting to walk around in the sand, looking around. "Well I don't _see_ your pants? How can I give you your pants when I can't find them? It seems to me a good team player would be willing to play with the cards he's been dealt-"

"Okay, okay, you know what?" Tai said, watching up to the two, his palms held out. "This needs to stop, like, _now_. Before it turns into an underwear thing...or-"

"Don't give him any ideas." TK pleaded.

"Fine, fine." Ken resigned, flicking his rod and giving TK back his regular pants. "Just trying to pass the time."

The ground began to shake violently. "Time for the show!" Ken shouted. A short distance away, a hill of sand erupting, sending grains in all directions. The digidestined watched, frozen, as a series of digimon came from the newly created crater.

"Like I said." Ken said calmly, raising the rod to point it at the oncoming attackers. "We pissed him off enough to make him do something stupid."

"I see about fifty ultimates. Modified." Sora commented. "Are you sure this qualifies as something stupid?"

"Positive." Ken replied. He made a circle with the orb of his rod, leaving a green trail that eventually formed the barrier for a small circle hovering in midair. In a flash, the circle began flying towards the oncoming collection of deathly powerful digimon, expanding in diameter quickly.

The green circle engulfed the digimon as they madly flew towards the group, and as they passed through, they were incinerated as if tissue paper. It was happening so fast the collection of digimon didn't even know what was happening until it had actually happened. In the time it perhaps took to blink, every single digimon that had emerged from the sands was simply gone.

"Very nice." Kari commented, staring at the nothingness that stood where there had once been destruction and death in digital form. "Too easy."

"You have _no_ idea." Ken said, sliding the rod back into his belt. "Poor Cory, blinded by his anger, just wasted a ton of power."

"And poor Ken, blinded by his newfound power, failed to realize those digimon were addicts to Faustian, and could easily have been converted to your side were you able to simply produce some." Came a voice from behind the group.

Everyone spun around to find Adeel standing there, looking grim, glaring at Ken's rod.

"Well lookie." Ken said, sticking his chest out and slowly walking towards Adeel. "It's the engima. The digidestined who doesn't want to help or be part of the group. The guy who just wants to...appear whenever he feels like it to impart some 'wisdom'."

"Lord knows you need it." Adeel said heavily. "Those were some potentially powerful allies, and all you had to do was mix a little Faustian up."

Ken looked up at the sun for a second, licking his lips, before turning back to Adeel. "Easier said than done. Powerful I may be, I can't simply generate Faustian from nothing. I don't know how to make it."

"That's your own fault. All you need is a small sample, that you should have gotten last night." Adeel countered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Who gives a damn?" Ken said dismissively, spinning around on his heel and walking back towards the group. "If I recruit them, they're on my side. If I absorb them, as I just did, their power is mine to use as I see fit, the difference is negligible. Either way, when you think about it, they're both siding with me."

"That's a very...Emperor-ish way to think of things." Adeel said flatly. "Don't you think?"

"No." Ken said, wagging his finger back at Adeel. "It's a practical way to think of things. I can't afford to try and serve beverages to every single digimon who tries to attack me. This is practical!"

"Very well." Adeel said, shrugging. "I guess I can't change your mind."

"That's right. You can't." Ken said assuredly. "Now get off my cloud." He gestured off into the distance, flicking his right hand back and forth at the nothingness.

"I know you don't like me, Ken." Adeel said darkly. "But you do need me. More than you know."

Ken shook his head quickly. "I don't think so."

"Really?" Adeel said, starting to pace back and forth on the sand. "Why don't you pull your head out of your posterior long enough to look around you?"

"Adeel, I get the sense that you're..._trying_...to help, but if you continue to talk to me in this condesending tone I'm going to have to-" suddenly, Ken's eyes glazed over, and his face fell flat. He slowly looked around for a second. "Oh jesus."

"What?" Tai asked quickly, running up to Ken and grabbing onto his arm. "What is it?"

"He's evacuating File Island." Ken said quietly, glancing about wildly. "He's getting them all out on boats. Why would he-"

"See?" Adeel said, spreading his arms to his side. "If I didn't show up you never would have figured it out. He's been evacuating it all morning, I can't believe you just figured it out to be honest. If you weren't so busy on your little power rush, you might have-"

"Shut up!" Ken hissed, looking up at the sky. "We need to get over there, now."

"Yes you do." Adeel said, his voice going deep and silky. "Yes, you do-"

"Shut up!" Ken shouted again, pointing at Biyomon. "Let's go!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The group flew several hundred feet over the ocean surrounding File Island, looking down at the large boats transporting digimon away from the sacred island. Ken was standing at the top of the wing of Birdramon, rod held out, looking down at the island. There was no movement in any region that he could see, nor that he could sense.

"Wait a minute." Ken said slowly, looking at the orb at the tip of the rod that glowed a light blue. "I've got something."

"What's up?" Izzy asked from near the rear of Birdramon.

"I've got...six digimon down there on that island. Megas, distributed evenly all around it." Ken said.

"What does that mean?" Tai wondered aloud. "I still think we should have taken Adeel."

"We don't need him." Ken replied tartly. "I'm a thousand times more powerful than he could ever dream of. Anything he could do, I can do. He just doesn't want to believe it."

Sora bit her lip and Mimi looked behind her awkwardly. Matt glanced at TK worriedly. Ken wasn't right today.

"What do we do now?" Kari asked, standing behind Ken and looking over the wing.

"Well-" But then, Ken froze, eyes wide open as the orb began to glow red. Then, he threw himself down onto Birdramon's back and began to scream. "GO! GO!"

"What's the problem?" TK asked calmly, peering over the wing down to the island. "I don't see anything-"

"HE'S BLOWING THE ISLAND!" Ken shouted, causing twenty-three stomachs to suddenly jump up the throats of their owners. After a split second of shock, Birdramon began to fly away at great speed, nearly throwing her passengers off.

"What do you mean?!" Sora screamed over the wind created by the velocity.

As if on cue, a destructive orb of white energy began to mushroom from the middle of the forest area of File Island. Everyone turned to watch it, except Ken, who remained laying on his stomach on the wing, hands over his head. Another orb of death began to expand from the desert, engulfing everything for miles.

They watched as one might watch a trainwreck, as four more eruptions occured in various locations on the island, completely shielding it from outside view. Everyone sans Ken and Birdramon watched, mortified.

When the orbs of energy cleared, there was nothing to see except the ocean flooding a newborne cavity. There wasn't a single thing left of File Island. Not even a stub of land.

Tai swallowed hard, then began to speak in a shaking voice. "Holy sh-"

"It's terrible." Davis said in a tinny voice. "What the hell?"

"Oh my god." Kari said quietly, gripping her hair at the sides tightly. "Oh, my god."

Ken slowly pushed himself up and crawled up to the back edge of the wing, looking at the angry tossing segment of water where the cavity was flooding. "Dammit." He groaned, turning over to lay on his back, his arm over his eyes. "God dammit."

"Ken..." TK said. "It's...it's okay." He took a few calming, deep breaths. "It's not your fault."

"Don't flatter me." Ken groaned. "It's my fault. Son of a-"

"No!" Yolei said emphatically, trying to sound definite and loud inspite of the situation. She walked over to where Ken was laying and grabbed his forearm, trying to pull him up. "Stop talking like that, we all know-"

"I'll stop talking like this when it stops being true." Ken lamented. "God-"

"C'mon, Ken." Davis said weakly, walking over to where he lay and grabbing his other arm. Yolei and Davis pulled Ken up briskly, letting him lean against their shoulders. "I mean-"

"If I'm being quite honest, I'd let the boy wallow in misery." Came a booming voice from the skies. "He's quite right to blame himself."

Everyone turned up to face the skies. There, among the clouds against a backdrop of blue, was Azulongmon. It wasn't clear if he was actually physically there or just an illusion, but he seemed capable of speaking.

"Azulongmon!" Matt cried.

"Indeed. I trusted Ken with a great amount of power, and his arrogance and cockiness has led to the destruction of an island very sacred to the digital world." Azulongmon stated again, his voice booming in all directions.

"...how could he have known?" Kari said pathetically.

"By not fooling around when he first arrived. Sensing this event was well within his ability. I am very disappointed in all of you for allowing this to come to pass, but especially you, Ken. You were the one entrusted with the power to battle the Emperor. This was on you to stop."

Ken looked down at Birdramon's back, slouched over and his eyes downcast. "Oh, jesus. I'm so sorry." He grabbed at the sides of his head, fingers running through his hair. "How...how could I...ohhh!" He fell over onto his knees, looking straight down, fingers interlaced behind his head.

"Sorry doesn't cut it. File Island's destruction has shown me quite clearly you can no longer be depended on." Azulongmon sighed deeply. "I will have to come down and deal with the Emperor myself.

In an instant, Ken righted himself and stood straight up, like a soldier. "Don't be ridiculous." He said tonelessly. "You may be the equivalent of a god in this world, but you have nothing I don't have." Ken managed to hold a note of confidence in his speech inspite of what he was implying. He grabbd onto his rod with his right hand slowly. "I'm not trying to step on any toes by saying this...but I hold more power in this rod then you could ever dream of." He swallowed hard, trying to appear confident with this statement in the face of Azulongmon's glare.

"Oh?" Azulongmon said, his voice getting even deeper. "Do not fool yourself, Ken. You may have a great deal of power in that rod, perhaps more raw power than I have at the moment, but your immaturity and irrational ways more than cancel that out. Plus, I am a god." His eyes flared up, red for a split second. "I have the reserves of this entire world to call upon." The entirety of Ken's rod began to glow Red. Ken could feel in burning in his hand, but wouldn't let go, trying to make a point. "I've given you what you have. I can just as easily take it back. Is that clear?"

Ken looked off to the left, trying to maintain his grip. "Yes." He finally choked out, strained.

"Good. The same applies for this Emperor." Azulongmon's head turned off towards where File Island was. "He may think he's hot stuff, but in the face of a god, he'll melt just as anyone else." As quickly as he had appeared, he disappeared with no fanfare about it.

Ken just stood there, wide-eyed, staring up at the space where Azulongmon had been. Finally, Joe went up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. 

"You alright?" He asked warily.

"Ummm..." Ken bit his lower lip. "Azulongmon...got...in here-" he pointed at his head "-and...he did something."

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, standing near the back of the group.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Ken said, his voice climbing in octaves. He sat down on Birdramon's back, crosslegged, his head in his hands.

"C'mon, spill it!" TK demanded, looking down at where Ken sat.

"There was an exchange between two deities of great power, and it was _very_ emasculating!" Ken said, his voice approaching falsetto levels. "I don't want to say any more. But...he made his point." Ken took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "The Emperor is done for. _Done for._"

"You sure?" Kari asked, worriedly still looking down at the water where File Island once stood.

"Oh yeah." Ken crossed his arms over his chest. "Azulongmon gave me a taste of what he's toting. The Emperor doesn't stand a chance, and he'd have to absorb the entire digital world before he could even think of putting up a fight." Ken nodded, a smile returning to his face. "We've got nothing to worry about. In fact, I sort of wish Azulongmon decided to do this earlier. Could have saved us some time."

"I dunno Ken...this guy is smart-" Cody began, but was cut off quickly.

"Cody, I'd bet my Beatles LP collection that Azulongmon is gonna tear Cory to pieces." He licked his lips. "He...made a mark on me. Put me in my place, so to speak."

"I...see." Tai said suspiciously, rubbing his forehead.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Nice to see you're feeling a bit better Ken." Yolei commented as the group stood in the middle of the Server desert, waiting for the action to begin.

"Well, the thought of seeing that little sonofabitch getting blown apart by Azulongmon can do that to you." Ken said casually. "I'll rather enjoy going home today knowing the task is done."

"Is there some way File Island could be...restored?" Kari wondered out loud, looking around aimlessly.

"Not as it was." Ken replied. "File Island was more than just an island. It was a place of history and importance. I couldn't possibly bring all that back." Ken shook his head. "If only I-"

"Don't talk like that!" Sora said suddenly. "What's done is done, stop thinking about it."

"Why do we always hang out in deserts?" Mimi asked, looking around at all the sand that stretched for seemingly forever. "I feel like Charlton Heston."

"Lot's of open space for fights." Davis commented offhand. "If Ken's confidence holds water, none of us will have to see a desert again for a very long time."

"Ken!"

Everyone spun about to find Adeel standing behind them, again.

"Goddamn, we've got to put a bell on you or something!" Ken quipped, turning to face him. "You keep...appearing behind us! It's getting old! One of these days I'll be holding a knife and just turn around and stab you on accident."

"Yeah, accident." Adeel said dryly. "Ken, you have to fight Cory in Azulongmon's stead."

Ken smirked. "Wow, you really hate me, don't you?" He turned around, looking up at the sky. "Azulongmon has...shown me the light, so to speak. He'll rip Cory to pieces, I'm positive. Why should I risk myself?"

Adeel grabbed his back, spun him around, and grabbed his collar. "Azulongmon can not, under any circumstance, put himself in a position where he can be harmed! There's a reason he almost never comes out of hiding!"

"He's probably just shy. I'm not fighting Cory." Ken said flatly. "Now put me down or you'll find yourself without arms in a moment."

Adeel gave a sigh of frustation, then set Ken down and went over to TK, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You then! Listen!" He pulled TK close. "Azulongmon won't listen to me, he doesn't trust me! But he'll trust you! You need to talk to him. He can not be allowed to come out of hiding! If he engages Cory in battle, all is lost!"

"Well, someone seems to think they know something special." TK said flatly, clearly not taking Adeel seriously. "Listen, I'm gonna place my bets with the god."

"You don't understand!" Adeel hissed into TK's ear. "If this is allowed to happen, all that you have worked for will be lost!"

TK pushed him back with his right hand roughly. "Alright buddy. You tell me exactly how this...vague event will happen, how you know it's gonna happen, and what we can do to avoid it, I'll start listening. But if all you're gonna do is throw around assumptions, why don't you go drop dead?"

Adeel looked around pleadingly at all the digidestined, none of whom showed any interest in what he was trying to say. Angry, he stuck his hands in his pockets and began to walk away.

He got a few meters away, then quick as a flash, pulled a tiny pistol from his pocket, took quick aim at Ken, and fired. Ken, however, had seen such an action coming and raised his rod to deflect the bullet harmlessly. He then thrust the rod at Adeel, knocking him out cold and throwing him twenty feet across the sand.

The group moved towards Adeel, but Ken stopped them by raising his hand. "No. We'll deal with him later. I don't know what his story is, but I intend to find out. However...something wicked this way comes." He turned around, facing the endless nothingness of the desert.

In a flash of white light, Cory appeared, perhaps a hundred meters away. He was, strangely, wearing a black blazer and dress pants, tugging at his cuffs almost nervously.

"Am I early, or is he late?" He called out to the digidestined sarcastically. "Or is a god of the digital world never early or late, but rather arrives exactly when he means to?"

"Oh, you're about to find out alot about digital world gods." Ken shouted back, standing up confidently. "I almost feel stupid for not demanding he come down and mop you up a long time ago."

"Is that so?" Cory began, but then, the snake body of Azulongmon ripped through the sky, descended on the desert, and stopped several meters from Cory.

"I've been waiting for you." He said majestically. "Your pyrotechnic show this morning was the last straw. You may have been able to hold off the digidestined, but it ends right now."

"Azulongmon!" Cory said, holding his hands out to his side. "In the flesh. Finally. I'd like to say, it's an honor to be the one who actually...lure you out of your cushy lair. This isn't a common occurance, is it?"

"Will it be an honor to be reduced to a bloody smear on the sand by me?" Azulongmon asked, filled with unusual rage for him from the destruction of File Island.

"Oh, looks like we've got a raged digimon." Cory said airily, beginning to pace about. "Don't make me hose you down."

"Emperor, Cory, whatever you'd like to be called, your crimes against this world are beyond measure or comparison." Azulongmon said, almost professionally, but still with a hint of anger. "I'm afraid I have no choice but to eliminate you from the world of the living."

"Well, you certainly like to dance around the word kill." Cory said, still pacing back and forth slowly. "I don't blame you. Well, I personally don't, but I see why you might-"

"Enough!" Azulongmon roared, beginning to glow a light blue. "You can put up a fight if you'd like, or go silently into the night. Your choice."

"Now that's a tough one." Cory looked up at the sun. "You like the show this morning? I was rather proud of it. Got six mega digimon to do a kamikaze run in order to get an explosion big enough."

"Well, be as proud of it as you want, because it's the last thing you'll ever be doing." Azulongmon said, even as he began to glow brighter.

"But...you know, I'm not the biggest fan of special effects in my killing. I prefer things to be silent and deadly. An explosion gives off the essence of great power, but also great effort." Cory began to wax on this strange subject, even as Azulongmon seemed prepared to unleash a fatal blow. "Winning is one thing. Style, grace, and elegance are entirely different things, and can make all the difference."

At this carbon copy of Ken's comment earlier, Kari gasped, Sora put her hand up to her mouth, Tai and Matt exchanged nervous glances, and Ken went wide-eyed.

"If you can lay down the law and not break a sweat in the process...I believe that means more to your enemy, leaves more of an impact and impression, than big shows. I prefer it."

"Well, I'll let it be known you're about to die in a very spectacular show." Azulongmon said, even as he began to glow at a blinding level. "They'll see the eruption for miles, your body parts may fly all the way to the ocean, and this entire world will no doubt feel it. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Well, we can't have that." Cory said quietly. Then, quick as a flash, Cory had a golden revolver out, pointed at Azulongmon, a small crack of fire and smoke blowing from the barrel.

A bullet ripped into Azulongmon through the nose, and began traveling at great velocity through his snake-like body. As the bullet moved through Azulongmon, it ripped through his flesh and bone anywhere it even got near. His body began to split apart in several pieces. The glowing died, and massive pieces of him were thrown to the ground, landing with massive thuds at Cory's feet.

The digidestined began to sweat, frozen to the spot, unable to speak or move as they saw pieces of Azulongmon hit the ground. Each piece kicked up sand and dust, and they were always partially buried under the sand they landed upon.

Nobody could believe it. Azulongmon had fallen to a single shot from a revolver.

There had been no fanfare, no explosion, not even a flashing light. Just death.

They began to regain their senses, along with which came a dead feeling in their stomachs, as the Emperor absorbed Azulongmon's dead body into his fingers.

"My, my. He really was powerful." He commented lazily. "My, my, my. Digicores! Nice to see he brought them along, saves me the trouble."

"No..." TK groaned, shaking his head vigorously. "No!"

"Style, grace, and elegance." Cory repeated, as the last pieces of Azulongmon entered his body. "Powerful tools."

Ken suddenly groaned, signaling his return to life, and began to walk slowly towards the Emperor.

"Ken, wait!" Izzy cried, reaching out towards him. But Tai grabbed him before he could begin moving towards him.

"He's got something to prove. Let him, it's our best bet." Tai reasoned, but even he felt sick about what appeared to be a showdown they could not win.

The sand began to kick up in the wind and swirl about, but Ken pressed on through it, walking as if a massive weight was on his back. The Emperor merely turned towards him, and watched him walk right up to him.

He stopped a few feet in front of him, slightly hunched, frozen for a few seconds as everyone watched, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And then, suddenly, Ken let hid rod fall to his side in the sand.

Then, he fell to his hands and knees before Cory, quivering.

"Please..." he said throatily. "Please, forgive me. Let me fight for you. I offer you everything I have." His voice had gone meek and tiny, as if suddenly in awe of being in Cory's presence. "Let me fight alongside you. I ask for only a chance to be with you in the end."

The Emperor smiled and nodded slowly. "I dreamed of the day we might work together." He said powerfully. "I was worried it may never happen."

"My abilities, my powers, and my services are now yours." Ken continued, as the digidestined watch in complete frozen awe. "I ask only for the opportunity to stand beside you when you have claimed this world as your own."

"Of course, Ken." The Emperor said casually, bending down to pick up the rod. "Rise." Ken did so cautiously. The Emperor thrust the rod into his chest, which melded into his flesh and disappeared. Ken glowed blue for a split second, then was back to normal. "Can you feel the power?"

"Yes." Ken breathed, looking at his palms, then the back of his hands. "Yes, I can." And then, slowly, he turned to the digidestined. "Yes, I can."

"Ken!" Wormmon said, breaking the silence between the still-loyal digidestined. He was crawling towards Ken and the Emperor. "You can't be serious! Please, don't do this again, it's-" 

"Wormmon!" Ken hissed, generating an oversized revolver in his hand and pointing it at Wormmon. "You're with me or against me! What's it gonna be?" The gun flashed in the overhead sun glare, Ken's finger flexing back and forth against the trigger.

Wormmon stared at the revolver for several seconds, then slowly began to back away. Ken fired off a shot, which hit Wormmon in the chest and threw him all the way back to TK, who caught him.

"Ken...no..." Tai trailed off, looking helplessly at the pair. "You can't be-"

"Run along, children." Ken said, taking a few steps forward. "Nothing to see here." And then, he stuck his hands into the sand, and whirlpools of sand began to kick up around his fists.

Slowly, the whirls began to expand outwards, engulfing more and more of the desert. The digidestined turned and began to run away as fast as they could. In a flash, Hawkmon turned to Aquilamon and everyone jumped on. The weight was alot for the large bird to carry, but he managed to get far enough off the ground for the sand pools to no longer pose a threat.

Just then, a bolt of lightning cracked the air a few feet to their left. It began to rain heavily down on them, the weight of the water seemingly adding pounds to the wings of Aquilamon with every second.

More bolts struck around the airborne digimon and his several riders. Kari threw one last look back at Ken, who was standing there cockily, looking very much like he was enjoying himself. And then, a bolt of lightning struck Aquilamon right in the center of the back, and they began a fast descent into the forest.

They fell roughly through the canopy of branches, beginning to separate in midair. The fall was slightly cushioned by landing on some thicker branches, but nothing could stop the imminent crushing blow the ground would provide.

And then, one by one, the digidestined and their digimon hit ground. They all faded to black, slowly, the last thing on everyone's mind exactly how screwed they were.


	13. The Last Stand Builds

Chapter Thirteen: The Last Stand Builds

Slowly, painfully, TK lifted the lids on his eyeballs. It was hardly worth the effort. Everything was blurry. He could make out a series of human-esque shapes in front of him, and a maddening collection of colors making up the backdrop of whatever it was he was looking at it.

He shook his head viciously, though he felt as if he had a set of ball bearings in his skull that rattled about as he did so. Things began to come into focus, as if he was rolling the focus scroll on a set of binoculars.

His companions in this world of madness appeared before him, lying strewn about inside a Japanese style house. He recognized it, but he felt too sick to recall exactly from what.

"TK." Someone said from behind him. He couldn't quite tell who.

Slowly, painfully, he rolled over to come face to face with Izzy. "Yeah?" He groaned, wincing.

"You alright?" Izzy asked. He himself was rubbing his body all over, massaging areas, filled with the same aches and pains that TK seemed to possess. "Nasty fall we took."

"How the hell are we even alive?" TK moaned, rubbing the small of his back.

"I have no idea." Tai said. TK rolled over to lay his eyes on Tai slowly pushing himself off the ground. "Ugh...I think this is Gennai's place."

"Huh?" He looked around, recalling the color scheme and arrangement of objects. Yes, that's what it was. "Oh. Right."

"Indeed." An unfamiliar voice ringed. TK looked downwards at his legs, spying Gennai sitting on a bar stool a few meters away. "You're lucky I was in the area, or you'd all be sitting in some dungeon inside Cory's secret base, or worse."

"Gennai!" TK exclaimed, suddenly wide awake. He jumped up onto his feet, as much as it hurt, and ran up to Gennai. "You've gotta help us! Ken, Ken, he's gone turncoat on us! There was...there was a gun, and a shot, and Azulongmon got shredded, and then-"

"I know." Gennai said solemnly. "I know what happened." He looked down at the floor. "We're in trouble."

"Ugh." Sora said, getting up on her knees and stretching out her back. "I can't believe that son of a bitch would betray us."

"I can." Matt said darkly. "Remember what he once was."

"I had hoped he had moved past that." Gennai said, his eyes glazing over. "We all did. But we've misjudged him. His deep desire for being on the winning side has triumphed over the part of him that wants to do good."

"Of course." Izzy said quietly. "Adeel saw it coming."

"Yes. Adeel knows many things. He's a bit of an engima, a mystery. I have yet to figure him out, and can hardly concern myself with it now." Gennai stated. "With Ken now allied with the Emperor, I'm afraid his ultimate goal will take mere days to realize."

"What are you talking about?" Kari asked, slowly picking herself up as well.

Gennai sighed, glancing out the window of his house. "Cory's ultimate goal is to drain the digital world in it's entirety, squeeze out every drop of power he can. When he's done, this world will be nothing more then an abyss of emptiness. The planet, the sun, the moon...it'll all be converted into raw power when Cory's done."

"...why?" Joe asked uneasily. "He may become...all-powerful and such, but without a world to rule over, what the hell is the point?"

"We don't really know. He may try to bring his reign of terror into the real world." Gennai said, sweat beginning to break out on his brow.

"He can't!" Mimi exclaimed. "Power in this world doesn't transfer over to another world...does it?"

"I don't know." Gennai shook his head. "It's possible. The point is, to achieve this goal, he'd have to drain the reserves of power in the circuit."

"Circuit?" Izzy inquired, instantly intrigued. "What's that?" 

"Code name for the hidden storage of power in the digital world that digimon draw on when gaining strength or digivolving." Gennai responded.

"You mean like...the valley?" Davis asked, still laying back on the ground.

"Yes. When a digimon dies, part of his life energy goes to the valley. The other half to the circuit. And they are called upon as needed, the valley for primary village and the circuit for strength-gaining digimon. Over the years, both locations have built up extraordinary storages of power." Gennai swallowed hard. "But I'm afraid, through Ken, both have been laid open to the Emperor."

"What are you talking about?" Tai asked, still rubbing his forearms. "Ken doesn't know anything about this circuit either-"

"It doesn't matter." Gennai stated flatly. "Ken possesses a curious ability that allows him to see inside a digimon and bring out the full potential he finds in a matter of minutes." A grimace overtook his expression. "The circuit does not exist on a physical plane, and thus, can not be visited or stolen from by the Emperor. The only way he could clear out the circuit is to force his digimon minions to train themselves in battle until they grow in strength and eventually digivolve. Normally, this process would certainly take years, if not decades, for the Emperor to manage. But now that he has Ken, this will take no more than a week."

"What is this...ability you speak of?" Wormmon asked. Everyone turned around and finally noticed Wormmon sitting on a small bed, bandages around his chest.

"You're alive!" Tai exclaimed.

"Of course! Takes more than that to get me down." Wormmon said bravely.

"I'm...sorry about...you know..." TK started.

"Oh, it's not your fault." Wormmon's eyes went downcast. "It's just I've lost him before. And this time it's even worse!" He sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"He raises a good point though." Izzy said. "What's this...ability?"

"Oh." Gennai looked down at the carpet, hands interlaced in front of his chest. "I can't say for sure, but it has something to do with the past."

"What're you talking about?" Matt asked quickly.

"Well. A long time ago, the greater powers of this world wished to make it so that the digidestined would have more than partner digimon and digivices. The digidestined legend was created as a failsafe of sorts in the event of something going wrong. We wanted to make them as strong as possible." He looked up at the ceiling. "The gods wanted to grant the digidestined a great deal of power themselves. Later on, the gods decided the inclusion of such powers were frivolous and risky, so they locked the abilities away inside the digivices."

"I've seen it before." Tai said suddenly. "Years ago, we could use the digivices to purge black gears. I remember."

"Yes, that's part of it. The powers only ever made apperances in these forms. However, the gods created an emergency 'panic button' of sorts. In the event that any challenge became too great to conquer, they could activate the locked parts of he digivices with this proverbial button." Gennai winced. "We came close many times, but we never really wanted to do it. And luckily, we never had to." He licked his lips. "I believe Cory has found a way to unlock the powers within his digivice, thus explaining his ability to manipulate power."

"And Ken can...what was it again?" Cody asked slowly.

"Cory must have discovered that Ken's ability would have been to see and bring out potential. He knew he would need this power to achieve his ultimate goal." Gennai bit his tongue. "Everything he's done up to this point has been a setup to get Ken to cross over to his side. And it's worked perfectly."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Davis demanded, looking around at everyone. "We all must have powers too, let's get them and go all X-men on Cory's ass!"

"I certainly would if I could. If I could have, I would have long ago. But the emergency procedure to activate the powers has been lost to Cory." Gennai put his face in his cupped hands. "The only way to draw out the power in your digivices would be to join him."

"...damn." Davis groaned, sitting back down on the ground. "But still...how did he beat Azulongmon?"

Gennai's face contorted slightly at this question. "He used my program." He muttered, hoping nobody would hear clearly.

"What?" Yolei instantly questioned. "Did you say-"

"Yes." Gennai gulped. "My program. I wrote it a long time ago as a failsafe of my own. I was worried the gods could be corrupted, turned to evil, and was afraid that they were all-powerful over this world. Someone needed to police the police. So I created a golden revolver and six golden bullets."

"That's definitely what he used." Joe said darkly.

"They're quite useless in most situations, but their coding is designed specifically to destroy the gods. It's the only way to defeat them, in fact, as they can call upon all corners of the digital world for power if they so wish. Raw power can not defeat them, ever." Gennai let his head hang even further. "Cory found it, somehow managed to get it, and now he's just three trigger pulls away from destroying all four gods."

"So now what?" Tai asked, his lips held together tightly as he tried to think. "What happens now? We've got no Ken, no power, and nothing up our sleeves." He looked straight at Gennai. "I know you can't be feeling great right now, but we need some sort of hope. Something."

"What happens now?" Gennai said, his face turning upwards to look at Tai. "As we speak, the underground safehouse Ken built is being raided. Every single digimon in this world beyond the eleven in this room will be under the Emperor's control. Ken will use his power to bring out the maximum potential of all these digimon, and eventually drain the circuit. Ken will lead Cory to the Valley, and it will be drained. Then, Cory will drain the power of every single digimon in the digital world. Then the planet itself is next, as he sucks out all the life until it's nothing more than a barren planet that can not hope to support life. The sun and the moon will come next. Whatever's left of these objects after he's done, he will destroy, until all that remains is his secret base." He cleared his throat. "And then, in his magnus opus, he will drain all of _you_."

Everyone flinched slightly at this concept. "Us? You mean...kill us?" Kari asked warily.

"Not quite. You are beings of the real world, and thus can not contribute to his power supply. But, you are digidestined, and as such you carry inside of you great power. Plus, your digivices play host to a great deal of digi-power. You can't begin to imagine how much draining the digidestined means to Cory." Gennai paused for a few seconds. "After that, who knows?"

"Well, mister doom and gloom, we need another option!" TK spoke up. "That can't be the only possible way the future will play out! There must be...something!"

Gennai took another deep breath, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at the ground. "The Ken betrayal has changed everything. I can not grant any of you the power I granted him." He stood up from the stool and began to walk briskly across the room. "Stay here, it'll be safe for at least one more day." He walked up to the front door. "There are some...measures we can take in a last ditch effort." He turned the knob, stepped through the doorway, and slammed it behind him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"For all the...rare knowledge you possess, Adeel, you sure do have a habit of playing right into my hands." Cory said slowly as Adeel raised himself from the cold stone floor in front of him. Ken stood by his side, arms over his chest, standing tall and proud. Cory was seated on a rather small leather chair, bolted into the ground.

"We all make mistakes." Adeel groaned, still in some pain from the stunning blow Ken had given him after he had attempted to shoot him.

"Yes, but not many of them spell the doom of the digital world." Cory said silkily. "Now, thanks to you, the valley is mine to take when I please. Surely you realized this would inevitably happen if you showed Ken how to get there."

"I gotta do-" Adeel started, but was quickly cut off.

"-what you gotta do. And you gotta do it because I wanted you to do it. Once again, it seems I have an extraordinary amount of control over you." Cory looked off at the blank, damp, dark wall of the room. "As we speak, Gennai is searching for what he believes to be the last hope of the digital world." He swung his head back to Adeel. "Much like you, he's just become another of my playing pieces who is unknowingly doing exactly what I need him to do."

"Don't kid yourself." Adeel said, standing up quite suddenly. "Gennai knows what you want, and what you need him to do-"

"And yet!" Cory interrupted, holding up his right index finger. "Yet, he still does it. Amazing, isn't it?" Cory blinked a few times, then looked back at the spot on the wall. "He knows he has no choice. Just as you do."

A glowing, multicolored portal suddenly appeared in the corner of the room. Adeel, Ken and Cory looked at it. "I know you can't very much like it inside here, so...why don't you run along?" He nodded.

"I know what you want me to do." Adeel said, his back turned to Cory, facing the portal. "What makes you so sure I'll do it?"

"Because you don't have a choice." Cory hissed lightly. "Nobody in this world but me has any more choices. Your only option lays in building a last-ditch attack force that might just be strong enough to trump me. You may talk all you like, but in the end, I know you'll do it."

Adeel paused for a long couple of seconds before speaking again. "You don't seem to think much of the last stand of the digidestined."

Cory snickered. "Why should I? A trio of gods, the final failsafe, and some souped up frankensteinmon. I know exactly what I'm up against, and I know that I'll be able to defeat it quite easily. I view it as...the last gasp of a man before he dies after being brutally stabbed."

"So you really don't know?" Adeel said mockingly, luring Cory in.

Cory said nothing. "I suppose not. Are you going to tell me?" Cory frowned slowly. "Ken was the last true hope of the digidestined, you know that." He threw a sideways glance at Ken, who was still standing like a soldier. "What do you have left?" 

"The Queen." Adeel said icily.

Cory noticably shivvered, nearly slipping out of his chair. But in an instant, he had recovered his composure and pushed himself back up. "So now you're placing your faith, and the fate of both worlds, on a myth? A fairytale?" He said slowly and heavily.

"It's no myth." Adeel said, his voice now powerful and resonating. "It's real. And it's spectacular."

Cory looked up at the ceiling for a couple of seconds before resetting his glance at Adeel. "Perhaps so. But, as you well know, the power of the queen is in my hands. You may have the queen, but she'll do you no good."

"Oh, I know." Adeel slowly turned to glare at Cory, an arrogant smirk on his face inspite of the situation. Cory stared back, his expression flat and lifeless.

"I know what you want me to do." Cory said, his voice slightly throaty. "What makes you so sure I'll do it?"

"Because you don't have a choice." Adeel hissed back. And then, a few quick steps later, he was through the portal in the corner.

Cory stared at the stone floor for several seconds, fingers interlaced in front of his face.

Ken looked him over slowly. "Are you alright?" He asked slowly. "What just happened here? Who's...the queen?"

"I'll explain later." Cory responded, his eyes glued to the floor in front of him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone wandered about in Gennai's living room, aimlessly, feeling for all the world like zombies. Nobody knew what to do or what to talk about. When they did talk, it never really went anywhere, usually a lament concerning Ken or their current plight.

"I feel like...we should have thanked him more." Tai said quietly. "I think it was a lack of respect thing."

"Don't be ridiculous." Joe said tonelessly. "We had nothing to do with it. Ken saw Azulongmon fall, and realized the digidestined could never beat the Emperor. So he switched sides so he could win."

"So that's all this is? Bandwagoning?" Davis said, laying back on the floor, rubbing his eyes. "I wish it were that simple..."

"I blame the rod." Cody said defiantly. "It made him power-hungry and greedy. Brought back some of his old traits. Gave him the capacity to join the ranks of evil again. He got a taste of power with that rod, and wanted to have the whole damn pie."

"It was a risk we had to take." TK said, though he didn't really believe it. Not right now, anyway.

"C'mon guys." Mimi said, though her voice was shaking. "We still have some time! We'll mount our final stand, and we just have to believe it can defeat the Emperor!" 

"I'd love to believe that." Kari said, curled up in the corner. "But we don't even know what we have left to throw at him. Without Ken, we've got so little."

And then, the front door was thrown open. Gennai stood tall in the threshhold, then stepped into the house. "I've got it." He said simply.

"Got what?" Everyone chorused.

"All I have left." He said dimly. Then, he held up an octagonal block of stone, that appeared to be completely normal and boring. "The final failsafe. I wish I could say it was some sort of alpha-omega object of unlimited power...but really, we thought we had enough other failsafes." He grinded his teeth.

"That's a terrible habit." Tai said offhand, pointing at the stone. "What do we have here?"

"This stone will trigger a chain DNA-digivolution sequence." Gennai explained, taking a seat on the stool once again, holding it out for all to see. "When I activate it, it will allow all of your digimon partners to DNA digivolve together, at their mega stage, to create a single digimon of power unimaginable."

"Oh, my, my." TK couldn't help but comment inspite of the demanded silence this speech needed.

"Oh my my is right." Gennai said. "We don't even have a word or term or level to represent what will be created." He looked down at the stone. "This object is the reason why Adeel had to bring Tai back, even if it meant risking everything."

"How so?" Tai asked.

"The stone triggers a specific chain. That is, it moves in a certain order. If a digimon or digidestined is not present, the chain is interrupted and can not continue past that point. It was preordained that Agumon would be the first digimon on this chain. Thus, if Tai was dead, this chain could never even begin." Gennai looked around at all the digidestined sitting before him. "Ken was intended to end the chain, so his fall into darkness is a setback we can afford."

"Interesting." Tai said. "So what's the chain go like?"

"It was chosen, seemingly at random, long ago. Tai, Matt, Izzy, Sora, Mimi, Joe, TK, Kari, Davis, Yolei, Cody, Ken. Luckily, this pattern has worked out for the best." Gennai nodded, holding the stone up high in the air. "This stone and the power it holds will be our last stand. I must remind you it's quite the long shot, beating Cory like this. But we have to try."

"Alright! Back in the game!" Izzy enthused, pumping his fist.

"Indeed. But barely. Now, let me explain the details of what's going to happen."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cory spun a medallion around in his fingers as he spoke from his chair. Ken didn't wish to ask what it was, as he was talking about something very important.

"Many years ago, a human accidentally came to the digital world." Cory was saying, very flatly, almost sounding depressed. "She possessed great power in this world, for reasons still unknown. Many believed she was destined to unite the digital world under one sovereign rule, forever ruling all corners of the world as queen. So, thousands on thousands joined her, tempted by the great kingdom she had built and the neverending happiness she promised all her subjects. They built a great force, which they believed would be used to march all across the digital world, bring every single digimon under the queen's rule, and...eliminate those who would contest her rule."

"I follow." Ken said, nodding, still staring at the medallion.

"But they were tricked. All of them. The girl was no chosen one, just a regular everyday teenager who was in the right place in the right time. One day, her kingdom disappeared, and all those in it. She locked all her subjects away inside the Dark Ocean, telling them she would return one day, and call on them to fight for her. If they failed her, they would forever be trapped inside the dark ocean. But if they succeeded, she promised to grant them freedom. As such, the digimon began to train themselves fiercely. They grew in strength, and would occasionally digivolve. But the queen never returned. And so, they remain there to this day, forever training, forever waiting."

"That's quite a tale." Ken said, his lips holding tight together. "I can't help but wonder if it's nothing more than that."

"I have never believed it in until today." Cory said, still very flat in his speech. "But now, I am quite positive it exists. Somewhere in the Dark Ocean, there lies a collection of twenty-thousand digimon, likely all of the mega stage."

"Well, perhaps the tale is true, but...they must be dead by now." Ken said uneasily.

"The Queen saw to that. The digimon are not alive, of course, but they can not die. They exist now as spirits, which was all part of the Queen's plan. As spirits, they are infinitely more valuable, as they can not be harmed by the living." His eyes twinkled for a split second, but then it was gone as fast as it came. "But they can very much so harm the living."

"Oh, you mean like the undead army in _Return of the King?_" Ken asked, with almost childish energy.

Cory replied with a very dead, dry, and sarcastic glare that allowed Ken to quickly realize he had said the wrong thing.

He looked down at the floor awkwardly. "Yeah. Sorry." He smiled weakly. "So, how does this affect us?

"The rumor is that the queen died in the real world. The wrong place at the wrong time, so it happens. The gods decided to pass the control of the vast army in the Dark Ocean onto another, as they were unable to free the captive digimon themselves." Cory swallowed hard. "They decided to bestow the role of queen onto a digidestined, one certain to free the poor digimon if given the opportunity. And so, the queen lay dormant within the ranks of the digidestined. Perhaps selfishly, the gods decided to not tell the queen, so the force within the Dark Ocean could be unleashed in a time of great crisis. But such a thing would be quite inhumane, so they told no one." He flipped the medallion up into the air several feet, catching it in his palm. "The army still restlessly waits for the queen to call them, even though she has no idea that she can, or that they even exist."

"You don't mean..." Ken bit his lower lip. "...Queen Kari."

Slowly, Cory looked up to stare Ken right in the face. "Bingo." He breathed.

"She can call on the army?" Ken reinterated.

"Yes. She is the only one who can call on the army, and they will respond only to her commands. I believe she has been called Queen Kari by some in the past. I'm not entirely sure if it's related, but it's quite possible. In any case, those digimon are of the digital world, and I must have them." Cory finished, pushing off the armrests into a standing position.

Ken glancing around the room, recalling the Adeel-Cory conversation. "Why would Adeel tell you about this? It sounded to me like he...I dunno, wanted you to get Kari to call the army."

"It's their only shot at victory." Cory said, his voice sounding quite old, like this turn of events had aged him considerably. "I kidnap Kari, force her to summon the army, and then when the army is summoned she turns on me and instructs the army to take me down. Adeel knows it's the only way to feasibly win."

"Then why do it?" Ken asked abrasively, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If we don't try to summon the army, they have no chance! We don't need the army to win, they need it to win. If we're the only ones capable of helping Kari unlock it, we have nothing to worry about-"

"Because." Cory said softly. "Because, Ken, as wise men once said." He swallowed hard again, his eyes unfocused on the blank dark wall. "And in the end, the love you take, is equal-"

"-to the love you make." Ken finished with Cory in chorus. "Of course I know that one. What about it?"

"When I came to this world so long ago, I had a goal. I wanted to drain every last bit of energy this world had to offer, and convert it for my own needs." Cory began throatily.

"But why does it matter? You can conquer this world with a mere fraction of what we already have! Why risk-"

"Ken." Cory said calmly. "It is not domination I seek."

"...then what?" Ken asked slowly, eyes darting around the room.

"Destruction." Cory articulated.

Ken's eyes flashed, then went back to the ground in front of Cory. "I see."

"The army must be mine. Those digimon are of the digital world, and as such, I can not honestly claim myself Emperor if they are not under my control." Cory said, finality in his voice. His eyes flickered up to the ceiling for a brief moment, then came back down. "The other three gods will no doubt attempt to attack us very soon." He stood up from the chair. "I also have no doubts the final failsafe has been found by Gennai, and he waits for us as we speak."

"Yes." Ken nodded slowly, folding his arms over his chest. "Indeed. But, you referenced a 'frankensteinmon' earlier. What were you talking about?" 

"Do you remember the incredibly powerful digimon you attempted to build with that Roachmon in the market?" Cory asked, rubbing his chin.

"Yes." Ken replied. "But it failed, I'm afraid-"

"Negative." Cory said, spinning around to face Ken. "As fate would have it, the Roachmon was able to construct the pieces within the capsule before the explosion and cave-in. The capsule survived, and the beast awaits someone to unleash it."

"Well...I suppose it's possible, but the beast could not have been actually developed. There's no way the system of power they used in that facility is still running-"

"Incorrect again!" Cory said abrasively. "In fact, the cave-in caused an interesting chain reaction. Not only did the system remain intact, but the river began to flow exponentially faster. Not only is the monster alive, but it's even more powerful than even you probably imagined." He smiled.

"Oh." Ken said, clapping his hands together in front of him. "Well, let's go get it-" 

"No need." Cory insisted. "As we speak, Adeel is going to retrieve him. He intends to use his digivice to make the creature his partner, and then fuse the entirety of his digivice into the heart of the beast to enhance its power further."

"Just as you wanted him too?" Ken asked, winking and grinning.

Cory nodded. "Indeed." He then reached into the inside of his trenchcoat and pulled out the golden revolver. His fingers gripped around the barrel and he presented the grip to Ken. "You like revolvers?"

"Of course." Ken said, looking down at the gun with reverance.

"I'd like to think of us more as...partners than number one and number two." Cory said smoothly. "Why don't you take it?"

Slowly, almost shaking, Ken reached his right hand out and grabbed the grip. "If you're sure."

"Of course." Cory paced off a few steps to the left, stopping with his back to Ken. "I want the era of the digidestined to end with a whimper. Not a bang. The first three bullets will deal with the gods. I've reprogrammed the last two so they will dismantle the frankenstein beast and the DNA digivolved digidestined specimen."

"Very nice. From the other side, you can really see how many steps we are ahead of the digidestined." Ken snickered. "What shall I do now?"

Cory twisted the medallion around in his fingers for a moment. "The gods and the digidestined will take some time to try and synchronize their final assualt. We'll have all the time in the world for you to use your power on the digimon when this is over. I think our time can be best spent striking the digidestined with a demoralizing mental blow." With that, he slowly turned his glance back around to Ken. "Bring me the queen."

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A/N: I know not alot happened, and it's somewhat short, but I'm setting things up for the next couple of chapters, so be patient. And quite a bit of the plot was exposed, so you might say alot of things happened. Some people have asked how many more chapters are left. I estimate three or four, I've managed to shorten the fic considerably from what I originally had planned.


	14. With a Whimper

Chapter Fourteen: With a Whimper

"No!" TK cried out suddenly, running up in front of Gennai and looking into the face of the three remaining gods, as they hung in astral form in the skies just outside of Gennai's house. "This is folly! Don't you see!"

"What?" Zhuqiaomon inquired, his head turning as he looked down at the boy. "What's the problem?"

"I can't condone sending you three to your deaths!" TK shouted, as everyone stared at his backside. "Can't you see that Cory holds the one object in the world designed _precisely_ to kill you? The revolver was created for the sole purpose of being able to defeat the gods!"

"Be that as it may." Baihumon replied tartly. "We have no other choice but to risk it. He will only continue to grow stronger from this moment. Under no circumstance can we simply allow him to take the valley without resistance." His eyes drooped lower. "If he takes the valley, all is truly lost."

"There must be another way!" TK insisted. "A frontal straight attack will never work! I can't be the only one who sees this! Perhaps there's another source of power we can draw on, another safeguard to invoke, something!"

"If there was something else to call on, it would have been taken by the Emperor already." A hologram began to engulf the surrounding area, placing the digidestined and Gennai in a mockup of the desert area of Server. A seemingly endless sea of digimon were marching across the sands, as if of one mind, drawing eerie comparisions to the Nazis of sixty years past. Kicking up clouds of dust as they marched, they approached the machine city.

"The vast armies of the Emperor march over the lands of the digital world like a plague as we speak." Ebonwumon explained, even as the first row of digimon began to ravage the outer walls of the city. "They seek to destroy everything that stands, until the digital world is nothing more than a barren wasteland. There will be nothing left. The Emperor has fused his mind with that of the planet itself, so all that is destroyed will be absorbed unto him. By tonight, the entire digital world will be reduced to lifeless-ness. Any last straggling digimon attempting to escape the Emperor's wrath will be dealt with, one way or another. In mere hours, even this place will fall. I'm afraid there is nothing left."

"Then we will go to the valley!" TK insisted, welcoming gasps from everyone else around him. "We have no other choice!" He continued even as he met unfriendly glares from the three gods. "If it's all we have left, we have to draw on it for power! We can not defeat him like this-"

"Absolutely not." Baihumon boomed. "We can not misuse the valley, or we are no different than the Emperor."

"We can not beat him as we are!" TK said through gritted teeth. "If we don't use it, _he_ will after he wipes the floor with us! By trying to attack him now, you give him only what he wants! If you refuse to utilize the valley, remain in hiding! If you stay where you are, he can not defeat you, and thus can not absorb you! And his ultimate goal will remain unachieved!" TK pumped his fist in front of his face. "At least let us not give him that!"

"We are not cowards, who run and hide when a great evil comes down." Ebonwumon spoke deeply. "As impossible a fight as it may be, we can not sit back and watch, hoping he can't find us."

"Gennai!" Zhuqiaomon exclaimed, throwing his head back and forth. "Use the stone!"

"Huh?" Gennai said dully, looking down at the stone in the palm of his hand. "Now?"

"Yes, the armies approach! It seems they've wanted to take this place sooner than we expected!" Zhuqiaomon glared down at Kari, under which she faltered. "He must want the girl. If he takes her, the potency of the stone will be greatly reduced, so use it now before he takes her!"

"What?!" Tai demanded, stepping up. "What are you talking about?"

"The armies of the Emperor come, led by Ken. They want your sister!" Baihumon said quickly, nervous tones painting his voice. "We have to spark the DNA digivolving sequence now, before she's taken!"

"Wait, why do they want her?" Tai yelled, throwing a quick look back at a very confused Kari before looking back up.

"There's no time! Use the stone!" Zhuqiaomon yelled. "And protect the girl with your life! If she's taken, all is truly lost! Prepare to launch the last stand in exactly an hour!" The three gods began to fade in the air, until they were barely visible.

"Hold it!" Tai screamed up at them as they completely faded from view. "Why her?!"

But they were gone. Tai punched at the air viciously. "Goddammit!" He yelled.

Everyone stared at Kari, who went scarlet and looked at her feet. She was shaking, and then began to sweat.

"Don't worry." Tai hissed, looking around, eyes darting from place to place around him. "They won't touch you."

"Prepare yourselves." Gennai instructed, as the stone began to glow blue. "Invoking the digivolution sequence."

And then, the digimon partners began to glow blue as well. In a whirl of shadows and colors that were hard to distingush, they evolved to their next respective stages. Before they had even seemingly fully formed, they were on to the next stage, and then slowly began to come together. The final stage came, and the eleven megas began to mix in with each other in a tornado of blue.

To everyone's surprise, a glowing blue GranKuwagamon joined the assortment, flying right through the wall and into the whirlpool of shapes. Everyone stared up as the shapeless mass slowly took shape.

"Wormmon?" Matt said. "But Ken would have to be here for-"

And then, the surrounding landscape flickered, revealing stretches of barren rock as far as they eye could see. Then again. Slowly, the fake landscape faded away, revealing what looked very much like the surface of Mars all around them. What was worse, a vast army of ultimate-to-mega digimon stretched before them, Ken at the lead. Ken was holding out his digivice, which was glowing blue as well. As the fusion monster took form, the glowing died out.

The beast resembled a massive, futuristic suit of armor. It was a metallic gun blue, and stood at perhaps twelve feet tall. It was humanoid, but didn't seem to have any obvious eyes. It's face was a cold steel mask, rough human features carved into it, seemingly by someone in a great hurry. It shook back and forth slightly as it breathed, looking (or so it seemed) at the army before him.

Ken returned the stare. "Impressive." He digressed. "Its mere presence threatens to unbalance this world."

"Ken!" Davis cried out, running forward a few steps. "Why'd you-"

"I'd...hate to have you guys claiming handicap after you're defeated." Ken said icily. "So I'll grant you the full potency of your final stand. For all the good it will do you."

"I'm afraid all the armies in the world can't beat this guy!" Davis yelled back, looking up at the great behemoth. "You can talk all you want, but he could destroy everything within a twenty mile radius if he wanted!"

"Please." Ken said, holding his palm up. "Don't act as if you know anything about this monster. I know how powerful he is. In fact, unlike you, I know exactly how powerful he is." His eyes twinkled. "And I know how to shatter it into a million pieces where it stands."

"Just because the Emperor force-fed you a piece of wood doesn't mean you can stand up to this thing." TK stated, pointing at the digimon fusion with his thumb. "You don't have the raw power. Stop bluffing."

"Raw power?" Ken put his hands on his hips. "Well, I couldn't say that you're wrong. I suppose I don't." He shrugged. "I confess, your beast is quite something."

"Then shut up and get out of here, you traitorous welch!" Cody spat.

"I have the means to destroy your creation...but I want to see the look on everyone's faces when all three gods, this fusion beast, and the frankensteinmon fall at once." He gave a small smirk. "So..."

His lips formed an 'O' shape and he lightly blew at the digidestined monster of immense power. As if hit with a cannonball, the digimon was thrown into the air at great speed, going in the opposite direction of Ken. It arced up into the skies, appearing smaller and smaller to the digidestined as they watched in awe. Slowly, as it began a speck in the distance, they turned to Ken.

"I suppose I'll settle for temporary incapacitation." He said casually, looking up at the sky where the beast had flown away. "See, that's why it's bad to put all your eggs in one basket." He looked down at Kari, and brought his hand up, motioning for her to come to him with his fingers. "Come now, Kari. The Emperor demands it."

The rest of the digidestined formed a human barrier between Ken and Kari, staring him down. "Forget it." Tai said spitefully. "Turn around, keep walking."

"In case you didn't notice, your only defense just went into orbit." Ken replied mockingly. "Now, I hate to attack a defenseless group of kids." He stared hard at Kari. "If she comes without a fuss, from her or any of you, I'll let you go mount your final stand. Allow you a final gasp, so to speak." He began to slowly move towards the group. "But if you'd rather resist, I'll take you all in right now. I'm well within my powers to do so, as I'm sure you all realize."

"How generous." Izzy said darkly, glaring at Ken. "Why should we believe you?"

"I don't care if you believe me or not." Ken replied coldly. "Either way, I get Kari. The only difference is whether or not I get the rest of you now or later."

Just then, Kari whipped a small pocketknife out of her pants' pocket and flipped it open. The digidestined turned around at the short pop of the blade, and gasped as one as she brought it up to her neck, pressing the blade against her flesh.

"Oh, don't be so sure you get Kari either way." She said, trying to sound cocky, but her voice trembled. "I'm not much good to you dead, am I?"

Ken snickered. "How perceptive." He gave a fake sigh and grabbed his forehead. "Very well. Yes, I do need you alive. But do you honestly believe you have the mental fortitude to kill yourself?"

The two entered a staredown, Ken waiting for Kari to drop the knife, and Kari waiting for Ken to become scared and back off. The digidestined group remained rooted to the spot, too much in shock to attempt to act. Even if they weren't, what could they do?

Sweat began to build up on the shimmering blade of Kari's knife. A tiny sliver of flesh was cut as she trembled right into the edge just the slightest bit. Ken watched knowingly as Kari continued to break out in further torrents of sticky water.

Finally, slowly, her grip on the blade weakened. She allowed it to fall away from her neck, slip through her fingers, and fall to the ground.

"That's a good girl." Ken said slowly. "C'mon now."

"Kari..." Tai trailed off as she began to slowly move towards Ken. He reached his hand out towards her.

"Please don't make me resort to violence." Ken said, holding his hand out to Tai. "I'd really rather not."

"I can't believe you." TK said strongly, eyes set on Ken. "You've been through this before. How could you, of all people, turn to darkness?"

"Why fight the losing battle?" Ken replied tartly. "Whatever the Emperor wishes to do will be done, inevitably. None of us can change this. All we can do is change what side we ally ourself with. If you were smart, you'd do the same."

"It's not about allies or enemies." TK said, folding his arms over his chest omniously. "The fact that you think so shows you learned nothing from past mistakes. It's about what you believe in, and what you want to fight for." He put his right fist over his chest. "I guess you don't believe in anything. Do you?"

Ken gave a wry smile. "All in all is all we are, TK." Kari came to stand right before him, staring daggers back into his face. "All in all is all we are." He moved to grab her wrist, but she pulled her arm back.

"Don't touch me." She hissed.

"Really now, I doubt switching sides has polluted my hands." Ken said sarcastically. "But if that's what you really want..."

He turned around and snapped his fingers out at the army of digimon, who melted away into the sand. Ken and Kari did the same, simply shrinking down into the ground in a flash until they were gone.

As soon as the area was clear, Davis kicked at the sand, sending a wave of it up. "Son of a BITCH!" He exclaimed.

"Why?" Tai yelled, falling to his knees and punching the sand. "Why Kari?!"

"The gods are hiding something." Gennai said, looking up at the skies. "Cory must want to envoke the special power of Kari's digivice for his own purposes."

"What was the power?" Sora asked, looking around slowly and hopelessly.

"I couldn't tell you." He put his hand up to his chin. "What could Cory possibly want..."

"We have to get her back!" Tai spat into the sand. "We need to mount the final assualt!" He pushed himself up. "Let's get our beast back, we've got less than an hour." He began marching towards the general direction the fusion digimon had flown.

Everyone began to follow, wading through the sand. "My god, there really is nothing." Mimi commented, looking around at the nothingness in all directions.

"I don't understand." TK said. "He said something about a frankensteinmon...I don't know anything about that." He scratched the back of his head. "Why didn't he just kill the fusion monster? He said he could." His eyes darted all around him, cautious for any traps. "And why didn't he take the opportunity to take us all? We had no chance of beating him."

"Let's not ask ourselves too many questions." Gennai said flatly, picking up the pace to a jog. "One way or another, they'll be answered in an hour."

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Adeel threw himself back as a single metallic hand sprung from the ground like a fast-motion flower. The fingers wiggled, and then the hand began to press down on the grass and dirt, pulling the rest of the arm out ever so slowly.

Adeel stoop back up and watched the digimon created from Ken's imagination slowly force its way out of the ground. Just in time.

"So it's true." He said slowly, watching a mound of closeby dirt shift. A second later, the top of a head clawed through, reaching the surface. "The beast lives."

He pulled out his digivice as the monster continued to sprout. "You carry the fate of us all." He said softly. "Make us proud."

The digivice began to pulsate green. Adeel took a few deep breaths, then roughly shoved it into the skull of the monster. He didn't appear to notice, nor be affected, by the foreign object. Adeel backed off as the torso of the digimon protuded out.

Another hand burrowed out, and both began to pull the great beast from the ground. It was metallic and sleek, not at all clunky and awkward like an Andromon. It was a cyber-robot sort of creature, but seemingly crafted delicately. It bore no resemblance to any of the digimon that it had been built from, and its great abilities of destruction seemed to be quite well hidden.

And then, it was free of the ground, standing up in a single fluid motion. It was almost...graceful. Adeel walked up to its back. It turned around suddenly, looking him over.

"All that stands between total destruction is you, my friend." Adeel said simply. "Fight for me, and this world may live to see another day."

The beast spun around, looking in all directions, then back to Adeel. "I-I don't understand-"

"There is much you don't understand." Adeel cut him off. "All you need to know now, is that you are the last hope of all that is good." Adeel looked at the monster's chest. "Surely you can feel it, coursing within your body."

"What is it?" He asked. His voice was sleek and powerful, like his body.

"I have made a great sacrifice so you might be strong enough to win." Adeel stated. "Do you accept it?"

"It appears I have no choice." The digimon conceded. "Will you tell me more when this is over?"

"I will tell you anything you want when this is over." Adeel said, climbing onto the back of the digimon. "But time is short now. We must go."

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"So...Queen." Cory said to Kari, standing before him in the large, stone, bland room of his center of operations. "Do you understand?"

"All too well." She responded icily. "It looks like somebody needs my help." She folded her arms over her chest. "Shame. You worked so hard to get this far."

Cory blinked languidly. "Yes." He admitted. "I need your help. But I do intend to get it." He began to walk around slowly. "Only with my help will you be able to call on this army. And one way or another, I intend to...encourage you to instruct the army to do only as I want them to. So don't delude yourself with dreams of unleashing this force against me."

"Oh, I don't have any dreams of unleashing this force at all." Kari said, again trying to sound confident. "You're just going to have to make do without them, because I have no intention of helping you."

"I'm not asking, girl." Cory said stonily. "Do you honestly believe you are capable of resisting pain? They don't train you for that in elementary school, do they?"

"I can't think of anything more painful than helping you." Kari replied, managing a small smirk. "So _there._"

"Then you simply lack imagination." Cory said dismissively. "I have all the time in the world, meaning you'll suffer as long as I want you to. And in about a half an hour here, when I repel the final stand of the digidestined, there will officially be nobody coming to save you." His eyes flashed at her. "So I ask you again. Are you going to help me now, or do we have to do this the hard way?"

She looked down at the ground, still giving a wan smile. "You seem very...confident in your ability to...convince me to instruct this army to do as you want." She looked around the bland, dark room casually. "What makes you so sure that I won't simply tell them to rip you to shreds?"

"You can if you really want to." Cory answered, shrugging. "I know how to defeat them."

Kari's smile fell off her face instantly. She tried to bring it back, but she had already faltered and lost her fake confidence. "Oh really?" She managed to choke out.

"If you don't want to believe me, by all means, don't." Cory said indifferently. "It makes no difference to me. But when I rule the world, it might make all the difference to you."

Kari took a deep breath, her eyes dancing across the floor. Again, she began to sweat, her eyes going wide as she considered her options. 

"Now, as you can see, there are four different ways we can proceed from here." Cory casually looked off to his left, at the wall. "All eventually end up in the same place from my point of view. So please, pick your path, for they do make alot of difference to you."

Kari simply stood there, fists clenched at her sides, staring at the Emperor.

"Well fine then." Cory finally said. Ken appeared in a flash behind Kari and grabbed her, causing her to scream as he dragged her back.

"Kari, neither me nor him are sadists." Ken began to say lightly into her ear. "We don't particularly enjoy this." He picked her up and turned her around, placing in her a eerie metallic chair. "We'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." He roughly grabbed her wrist and slammed it down on the armrest, pulling a thick black strap over it and securing it down. "So any time you feel like giving in, any time at all, just let us know."

"Don't talk to me." She said bitterly as Ken grabbed her other wrist and secured it in a similar fashion on the other side.

"The tough girl act is wearing thin." Ken said softly. "Not that it matters. I'm quite sure you'll melt in a matter of minutes." He grabbed her legs and slammed then against the base of the chair. Two leather straps came out to secure her ankles. "I really don't think you have any idea what you're about to face."

"Well, as painful as it is to be in the same room as you, I don't think that'll be making me give you what you want anytime soon." She said coldly.

Ken paused for a moment at this comment. Then, he gave a small laugh. "Keep talking and I might just find myself enjoying this." He said. He grabbed her head and slammed it against the back of the chair, securing it with further leather straps as well. "Nasty mouth you've got there. Hearing you beg might just be a kick after all."

"That would, of course, make you a sadist, by definition." Kari retorted, trying to maintain a cool demeanor.

"Well you're just being a little bitch, aren't you?" Ken responded. He rubbed his hands together and made a crystal appear in his hands. He moved to the back of the chair and slid it into a slot along the back support. "No, Kari. I'd love to see you willingly give us the power of the army. I'd love to see you, and all the digidestined, join us and follow Cory wherever he may go. I'd love for that to happen, but to my dismay, it's not to be. No, Kari. This is me at my most...masochistic." With those words, he made a small black plastic case appear in his palm.

He popped it open, revealing three syringes filled with a glowing green liquid. Kari's eyes couldn't resist bulging at the sight.

"Do you drink caffiene, Kari?" Ken asked, pulling one out. "Do you sneak into the backyard and have a smoke? Ever do a little drinking? How about drugs? Ever...experiment?" He laughed at himself, moving over to her right arm. "Of course not. You're just a little angel. I'll bet you're not even addicted to sugar."

He felt around on her arm for a vein, Kari watching in horror as he did so. He found one and stuck the needle in, slowly pressing the liquid in. Kari winced as he did so. "So this is all gonna be new to you." He stared at her hands as they gripped the armrests tightly. Slowly, he removed the needle. "I'll tell you this much, though. Last month, my mom accused me of being addicted to chocolate syrup. So I decided to prove her wrong by going without it for two weeks." He smiled. "Hardest two weeks of my life."

He slowly removed the second syringe from the pack, glancing down at his watch. "I suppose this is going to be...I'd estimate about a hundred times harder." With a quick dipping motion, he stuck her with the needle in the arm, as she looked on, terrified. "Addiction is a nasty thing, Kari." After the needle was drained, he plucked it out. "Three strong doses of Faustian, each within ten seconds of the other." He said. "Faustian is quite the drug. The more often you take it, the more often you crave it." Slowly, he pulled the final dose from the case. "So, about ten seconds after I deliver this one, your body is going to wonder what's up. Then comes the sweating and deep craving...the craving turns to pain, which only intensifies with every passing second. Withdrawal symptoms and such. In a half-hour, I fully expect you to be more than willing to kill yourself to end the pain. But you won't be able to." He placed the dose into her arm for the third time, draining it into her system. "Within three hours, you would die of shock, were it not for the crystal on your chair keeping you alive regardless of how much pain you feel. You'll also find passing out quite impossible."

He pulled the needle out and cast it to the side, watching her pupils dilate and sweat begin to build up. "I must admit, I expected...something at this point." He said slowly. "Screams of terror, crying, begging...perhaps an early caving. Perhaps you are really a tough little girl after all."

Kari turned to Ken, as much as the bonds would allow, and spat at his face. The saliva was lucky enough to hit him in the eyeball, forcing him to turn away and squeeze his eyeballs shut as he rubbed at it. After a few seconds of this, he slowly turned back to Kari.

"I'll have to get you back some day for that." He said in a low hiss. Kari bent over slightly at the stomach, groaning. "Oh look. I already am."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is the entire planet like this now?" Mimi asked, looking around at the barren rock that made up the ground for endless miles in every direction. "It's so...dead."

"He's not even done." Gennai said darkly. "He wants to absorb the entire planet itself. Which he'll do if we don't stop him."

"Where is he?" Tai asked, looking around.

"He'll come." Gennai growled. "The gathering of three gods and a beast of such power will certainly draw him out."

"Make that two." TK said, looking off to his right. Everyone else turned in a swift motion to where he was looking to find a robot-esque digimon running towards them, Adeel on his back. "Nice to have backup."

"Adeel..." Gennai trailed off. "Funny. You have the habit of disappearing in times of need. Why the change in M.O.?"

The beast stopped and Adeel jumped off just a few feet before the group. "It's never that simple, Gennai." Adeel said simply. "But now, my temporary partner here is all that stands between the Emperor and complete destruction of the digital world."

"You think highly of it." Sora said, looking the sleek metallic beast over. "Are you sure it was worth bringing?"

"Ken built it, remember?" Adeel replied. "How...ironic it would be if Ken fell at the creature's hand."

"Are we sure he doesn't mind being called that?" Matt said nervously. "I mean...come on now."

In a flash of bright light, the three gods appeared in the air, hovering in the skies, looking down on the group.

"What is this?" Zhuqiaomon inquired, eyes on Adeel's digimon. "I see you've gotten a partner...and now you want to help." His eyes narrowed as he turned to Adeel. "Are you entirely sure about this?"

"I'm entirely sure that if I don't, we're all doomed." Adeel said simply. "This isn't an option."

But whatever may have been brewing within this conversation was halted as a crack of lightening hit the sand several meters away. Cory and Ken appeared in the afterglow. Everyone quickly turned to the duo.

"You do realize how...easy you've made my job by gathering all in one place like this. Don't you?" Cory said simply, looking the five different monsters over.

"Let's see how tough you are without an army standing behind you." Tai hissed, more at Ken than Cory. "Where is she?"

"I imagine she's contemplating suicide at this very moment." Cory replied tartly. "She's really a tough little girl. Or was, rather, I fixed that right up." He glared at Tai. "Last time I saw her, she kept screaming your name." He then turned his gaze to the massive fusion monster of the digidestined. "Is Gatomon in there somewhere? Well, your name seemed to be the subject of her fascination as well. In fact, I think perhaps all of you were-"

"Alright. Enough!" Gennai said. "Let's just do this, _Cory._" He spat the name with derision.

"Oh, of course." Cory replied. "Shouldn't we wait for a referee, or something-"

"Enough!" Ebonwumon screeched, beginning a quick descent down to Ken and Cory, ready to attack.

But faster than him was Ken's draw. A golden revolver was pulled from his hip and aimed up into the face of the god, and fired. Just as it had to Azulongmon, the bullet ripped through Ebonwumon's body, shredding the beast and sending it flying backwards through the air.

Before anyone could comprehend this, Ken pointed the revolver at the other two duo of gods, squeezing the trigger in the direction of both. Two more golden bullets ripped through the air, with similar effect on the targets.

Ken then flipped the gun into the air, arcing it over to his left hand and catching it, barrel trained on the fusion monster of the digidestined. The digimon attempted to get down in a fighting stance and perhaps dodge the bullet, but the golden shell pierced the digimon. Immediately, it began to glow a strong red.

As a finale of sorts, he bent his arm backwards behind his back and fired at the frankenstein digimon, the bullet plunking into the chest of the monster as it began to take a step forward to charge at the pair. It fell to the ground, beginning to slowly de-form into a shapeless blob of silver.

Immediately, Cory began to absorb the three fallen gods. Their bodies began to de-materialize into data, which Cory took into his arms gladly. The digidestined could only watch in total awe at what had just happened in the time it took to blink.

"As you can see." Ken began. "You can do whatever you like, but we'll always be one step ahead of you."

Just then, the fusion digimon de-volved back into the in-training forms of the respective digimon that made it up. Slowly, these began to dissolve to raw data and join the streams entering Cory.

"No!" Tai yelled, sprinting over to the collection of small digimon as they melted away. "Stop!" He demanded, for all the good it did.

"We beat them. It's our right." Ken said simply as they disappeared into nothing.

Tai threw himself on the rock where they had been laying and began to claw at the rocks with his hands. "Goddammit!" He shouted.

"And now..." Cory turned to the frankenstein digimon. "Hmm?"

His face fell as the digimon slowly righted itself and jumped up to its feet, taking up a fighting stance.

"Huh." Cory said slowly. "You're a smart one, Adeel."

"Thought I'd package him with a little surprise." Adeel said knowingly, crossing his arms over his chest.

And then, the digimon unleashed a furious assualt on Ken and Cory. Giga Cannons, Rivers of Power, and Puppet Pummels came out as one, bringing forth mass destruction in the direction of the two.

Cory raised his hands, and the streams of deadly energy were halted a few feet in front of him. The effort of stopping the assualt, which would not let up, was clearly great, as he strained against the flow.

"Ken. You have a big imagination." Cory commented casually. "Perhaps too big."

"But...how?!" Ken said, throwing his head around in panic. "You said you-"

"Adeel's fused his digivice to the beast. I can't say I saw that coming." Cory nodded, even as the energy continued to flow at him. "So, of course, I didn't program the bullet properly. But it's fine."

And then, he leaned back slowly, then threw his body forward in the direction of the digimon. The flood of power stopped and the digimon was thrown back several feet, falling back into the ground and creating a small crater below him.

Cory fell to one knee, taking several deep breaths. "Finish him for me, will you?" He asked Ken.

Ken stepped forward and aimed his right index finger at the digimon as it struggled to regain its feet. "You've ruined our whimper." He said.

A single orange streak of light shot from the tip of his finger and flew through the air towards the digimon. Just then, Adeel dissapated into a wisp of smoke and fluttered inbetween the laser and the digimon. The smoke enveloped the shot in an orb, and then the orange streak simply vanished along with the smoke.

The digidestined stared at where the laser had been seconds before. Cory looked up, fear overtaking his features as the robot digimon jumped back up and prepared to unleash all hell once again. Ken was frozen for a few seconds, then snapped back into the present and threw his hands up.

The hellish stream of death focused on the duo once again, and this time Ken was there to block. But he wasn't as strong as Cory, and the strain put on him by this act was great. The wall that blocked the flood of power got closer and closer to him.

"He's done it!" Gennai exclaimed! "We've got him! We've got him! Cory's too drained to help!"

Cory stood back up, shaking his head. "Drained I may be, but I think you'll find I have some very powerful allies!" He roared. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small grey object the size of a matchbox with a button on it. He pressed it viciously with his thumb.

As soon as it was pressed, thousands of digimon in astral form seemingly sprouted from the ground around them. It was hard to make out any one shape or digimon, but in the swirl of spirits, it was possible to see WarGreymons, MetalSeadramons and Machinedramons. The overall point was, they were all mega, and there were thousands.

"Holy-" Gennai began, but never finished.

The digimon unleashed all sorts of terrible attacks at the frankenstein digimon. Missiles, energy bombs, blades, and an assortment of other such deadly things struck the digimon all over its body. It turned and tried to fire some Giga Cannons at closeby spirits, but the attacks simply passed through them.

The powerful blaze of attacks from all angles was too much. The digimon was blasted into oblivion, explosions ripping through its tough skin and into its body. When the mushroom of smoke cleared from the scene, there was nothing left to see.

Izzy fell to his knees, grabbing his head in disbelieve. Tai collapsed to the ground. "So close...so goddamn close..." he moaned.

"Nice try, Adeel." Cory said, clearing his throat and composing himself again. "I'll admit, I was almost defeated. Had Kari been able to hold out just a few more minutes, I would have fallen." He chuckled. "Very nice effort."

"She broke?" Ken said, turning back to Cory, sweat pasting his body. "I didn't know."

"I left her with a Geckomon. I told him to contact me mentally should she crack while I was gone." He looked around slowly. "She broke around the time you were doing that fancy shooting with the revolver."

And then, he stuck his hands down into the ground, and a green light began to pulsate a few inches out from both spots. "I suppose I have no further need for the armies." Purple glowing lights came from all directions and absorbed into the green light around Cory's hands. "Just give me a moment."

The digidestined watched, eyes wide and hearts in their throats, as he absorbed the power of every single digimon in the world. TK tried to move forward to attempt to stop him, but couldn't work up the energy to move. So he simply fell onto his back and sat on the ground, watching, struggling to come up with some sort of plan.

"Very good." Cory stood back up. "Now...I'm going to the valley." He instructed Ken. I want you to go where the primary village used to stand. You'll find baby digimon as far as they eye can see when you get there." He grabbed Ken's left shoulder with his right hand. "Drain the circuit."

Ken nodded. Cory then turned out to the digidestined. "I'll deal with these." He waved his hand side-to-side in front of his body, sending out a blue arc of light. When it either struck or passed over the members of the digidestined, it caused them to instantly pass out. The last to remain awake was Joe, who tried to roll over and crawl away before he passed out.


	15. All in all is all we are

Chapter Fifteen: All in all is all we are

A/N: Okay, so, this should be the last chapter. But it's likely to be quite long so I can wrap up everything, I'm a long chapter guy. Hopefully I can fill all the plotholes without getting too crazy...might be too late for that though.

But of course, I live for the crazy plot. I know things may have gotten out of hand later in the story, but I wouldn't write a fantasy story without a crazy plot. I'm not the best storywriter yet, so things may have gotten out there a tad, right now I'm just happy I managed to get the technical aspects of writing down.

Anyway, I'll try and wrap this up the best I can. I'm eager to hear any final comments you readers may have when I'm done. Thanks for sticking with me, this has already destroyed my review record and just reached 2000 total hits (also a record for me), so thanks alot for that.

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The world began to fall back into focus, like a polaroid photo does in the first few minutes after being taken. However, the world that Tai's eyes were greeted with was just as bland as the darkness he had been in for some time before.

Slowly, he rolled over onto his back. That'd be a nice start in terms of coming back to the world of the conscious. He thought he could make out a stone ceiling, but it was all so dark who really knew where anything began or ended.

He wound up rolling onto something else. A lump of some sort. It started to stir, and he realized it was, in fact, someone. Quickly, he threw himself back onto his stomach, rolling back to the cold stone floor.

"I can't think of a better way to be woken up." Someone groaned, close to him.

"What the hell is going on?" Someone else said.

Tai winced as some unfortunate memories came back. The digital world, the Emperor, the destruction, the defeat, the betrayal...everything that led up to...wherever it was they were now.

"Is there any shot all that was just a dream?" He said out loud. "That'd be great."

"I'm afraid not." Said someone else, only this person didn't sound as if they were just beginning to recover from being bashed over the skull with a cinderblock.

Slowly, he brought face upwards. He came to face another body, this one of his sister. She was beginning to move as well.

"Oh." He said dully. "Kari, are you alright?"

"Not at all." She responded bitterly.

"She's just not seeing the big picture." Came the groan-free voice again. "At least she's not hopelessly addicted to Faustian anymore."

"Shut up!" Kari spat.

"I had hoped you would have picked up some humility after your experience." Said the voice. Tai twisted his head to the right, and he could make out the outline of someone standing, as well as the rough figure of a few more bodies strewn about. The upright figure seemed to be the Emperor, and he thought the bodies might have been Sora, Joe and Cody. "It would be far too easy for me to bring the pain back."

"Sadist." She shot back, starting to push herself up to a sitting position.

"Hardly." Cory replied simply. "But call me what you want. I can't bring myself to care anymore." He cast his head about. "Is everyone awake?"

"Just get on with it." Matt hissed. "You're not worth our small talk."

"Well, that just tears me up inside." Cory responded sardonically.

A series of tube-shaped lights flickered to life from the ceiling, casting some illumination on the scene. But, even with this, the place remained as bland as the inside of Tai's eyeballs. The walls, ceilings, and floors were all made from stone, and sans the twelve-foot capsule at Cory's side and a metallic door in the corner across from Tai, there was nothing to spice things up.

"The room reflects its owner quite well." Tai managed to comment. "Could use a woman's touch."

"Why do you think I took your sister?" Cory replied tartily. "Unfortunately, she was too busy writhing in pain to be of much help."

Tai pushed himself up, rolling over to have a seat on the ground. "What'd we miss, asshole?"

"You tell me." Cory looked over at a portion of the wall across from him. Slowly, it slid open to reveal a glass pane, looking out into what appeared to be blackness.

Sora got to her feet and walked up to the glass, looking out into the outside world. "Should I be seeing something?" She asked.

"If you can, then I haven't done my job very well." Cory responded. "It's all gone." His face started to curve into a nasty grimace. "The planet, the moon, the sun, the valley, and the circuit." The sides of his mouth twitched at the end of every sentence. "It's all gone. All mine. This base is all that still stands." Slowly, his mouth relaxed back into a more neutral look. "It's quite a feeling. An entire world reduced to raw power and placed at your fingertips." He blinked. "Well. Not everything, I suppose."

"Failing to finish up. The most common downfall of the villian." TK said thoughtfully, sitting up himself. "I'll never forget how Hans Gruber could have so easily succeeded if he only had henchmen who would not allow themselves to be dictated by emotions so easily."

"Oh, I intend to finish up." He cleared his throat loudly. "The last thing thing that stil resides in this world of any value to me...is the digidestined."

"Yet again, you need us." Kari said quickly, rolling over onto her stomach. "How ironic that the man who claims to be all-powerful and invincible needs help from his enemies, time and time again, in order to achieve his ends."

"And yet, as you know better than anyone, I can get that help." Cory replied eloquently. "Friend, enemy, it doesn't matter anymore." He looked over to his right, at the steel door. "I decided to keep you guys asleep during the tedious process of absorbing everything. I wished you could have seen it, but I understand you're a resourceful bunch, and I'd hate to take a chance at this point."

"So mister all-powerful is scared, now?" Davis egged, perhaps foolishly.

"Just cautious." He squinted, still looking at the door. "Something you don't seem to understand, from what I hear. But I'm not hear to talk about that." He swung his head back around to the digidestined. "You're awake now because I need the power within your digivices, and within yourselves, to complete my complete draining of this world. Unfortunately, I can't do this by force." His eyes went down to the ground for a split second before coming back up. "So, all that stands between me and my goal is you guys giving me the power of the digidestined...willingly." He cast a glance at Kari. "If you'd like to know exactly what it is I do when I really want something, you may ask her."

"Go to hell." She hissed, slanting her eyes.

"In any case," he proceeded, ignoring her, "I ask nicely once. But only once. I don't think I need to remind you that there is nobody left to come and save you. Gennai has been..." he pursed his lips, "dealt with, shall we say, and even if someone did manage to travel to the digital world, they'd find themselves in an abyss with no breathable atmosphere."

"Who are you?" Mimi asked out of nowhere. Everyone turned to her awkwardly as the words left her lips.

"The Emperor, they call me." Cory responded quickly, unfazed. "I'm not overly fond of it, but who am I to question a nickname given by the masses? I suppose it's stuck now anyway." He swallowed. "I've also been called Cory Bradford-"

"No...what's your story?" She rephrased.

Cory smiled, nodding knowingly. "Ah yes. The last weapon in the arsenal of the digidestined. Appealing to the good side of the bad guy." He rubbed his hands together. "Part of me thinks giving you details regarding me and my entire plan here could be detrimental, as it so often is in cinema." He clicked his tongue. "But I suppose I can tell you a little bit."

He closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then popped them open suddenly. "Please don't try to use what I'm about to say as some sort of opening to turn me from what you narrow-mindedly call 'evil'. It really won't work, I promise." He took a deep breath. "Moving from foster home to foster home is an interesting experience." He chuckled. "You really get a taste of every part of the pie. They were rich, poor, middle-class, conservatives, liberals, intellectuals, blue-collar, fanatics, laborers, and everything inbetween. You name it, I've been...unofficially related to it." He glanced out the window into the blackness before continuing. "They called me unlucky. They kept dying, or became otherwise unable to raise a child, so I was passed around like a peace pipe. I admit, it wasn't easy, but I wonder if I was truly...unlucky."

"They probably didn't want you and faked their deaths just to get rid of you." Davis said slyly.

"It might be hard to believe, but I used to be quite normal. Just another child with the same dreams, hopes, aspirations, and fears that any child might have." Cory replied calmly. "While I was being thrown from parents to parents, there was one thing that always piqued my interest." His eyes glazed over and he slowly turned his head to the left. "Religion."

"So you blamed god for your misfortune?" Izzy asked, smirking. "So in the end, you're just a two-dimensional bad guy who's arrogant enough to believe god might have singled you out for suffering."

"It's nothing so petty as that, Izzy." Cory replied, still calm inspite of the volley of insults being thrown in his direction. "I spent time living with families of protestant faith, jewish faith, buddhists, islamic, hinduism, and just about any religion you can imagine. Some had no religion at all. I always found it...odd." His gaze turned back to the group of children before him. "Few subjects were more important to the six billion people in the world than religion. The difference between them were often minute, and yet, people were discriminated against because they simply believed in a slightly different version of god."

"Yes, it's a shame." Cody couldn't help but comment. "How does this even begin to relate to you? Get to the point."

"So I read up on the history of this...touchy subject." He took another deep breath through his nose. "Throughout the history of mankind, millions on millions of people had been slaughtered because of religion. Religion was often the cause of wars, the cause of hatred, and often the cause of all that was bad in our society." He blinked down hard before continuing. "To this day, it remains the primary reason why we humans are always fighting. These small, almost irrelevant, differences in beliefs."

"So you were so mad at religion, you decided to come in here and trash the digital world?" Davis spat. "Sorry, not gonna fly."

"Not at all. Please, let me finish before you throw out your ignorant assumptions about my goals." He paused again. "All this could be avoided very simply, if only the true god would show himself." He swallowed hard. "But he chooses to remain hidden, and allows the human race to neverendingly wage war against each other over religion. If only he would come down, and reveal to us all beyond all shadow of a doubt what was true, so much bloodshed could be averted."

"A noble thought." Joe digressed. "But you've yet to justify-"

"So, I thought to myself. What if there was some way to lure him out? Force him to show himself to the world. Clearly, he'd rather let us kill each other than simply point us in the right direction." He sighed deeply. "But, I had no idea how to begin such a task." Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his bland, colorless digivice. "So you can imagine how I felt when this came to me one day."

"I wish I could feel bad for you." Kari said. "Your goal may be noble, but nothing can forgive what you've done here."

He continued to ignore the insults. "I learned of this digital world. I learned that, through some twist of fate I can't even imagine, I had become one of the chosen children who could pass into this world. I believe things happen for a reason, so I began to plot on how to use this world to lure out the god of the real one." His mouth tightened slightly. "And that brings us to where we are now."

Tai's eyes squinted, looking Cory over. "I don't follow."

"I have absorbed this entire plane of existence, and placed it within the being in this capsule." He pointed at it slowly. "Soon, the power within this being will be fused to me, and I will make my return to the real world. With all the power of a god, I will be a massive threat to the world that the god, whoever he may be, has worked so hard to create." The corners of his mouth curved up slightly. "I could easily lay waste to the entire planet, and perhaps more. Given that I pose such a threat to the real world, the true deity of existence will have no choice but to show himself."

"To obliterate you." Sora said darkly.

"Do you honestly believe it will be that simple?" Cory retorted. "I possess the raw power of an entire world ten times over."

"But he is god." Izzy responded simply.

"Yes. He is god." Cory repeated, a vein in his neck pulsing. "He is Deus Ex Machina, and I am Agent Smith, if I may metaphorize. Never believe that a god is infallible."

"Alright." Tai said. "Fine. What happens then?"

"If god wishes to fight me, then we will fight. If he triumphs, I will suffer the consequences of my actions, but the world will know the truth once and for all. That's all I really want. I'm a soldier." Cory explained.

"One screwed up soldier if I've ever seen one." Matt spat.

"But...should I win..." his eyes lit up, "well, let's just say the world will become populated with over six billion...Corists? Coryists?" He bit his lower lip. "I'm not really sure what they'll call it. The point is, either way, I'll make quite sure everyone knows who their god is." A small smile crossed his face. "And there will be no more wars over religion, no more debating, and no more mystery."

"And if there is no god?" Tai asked.

Cory glanced back out the window before proceeding. "Then I create the truth. I don't believe mankind is ready to face the indisputable fact that there is no god."

"So in the end, all you really want to do is be god." Sora said coldly. "Don't advertise yourself as a soldier of truth and justice when you're really nothing more than an overzealous teenager who wants to be god."

"I just want what's best for the human race." Cory replied flatly. "Three different things can happen when I arrive in the real world. Any one of them will result in the truth behind religion being unveiled once and for all. Perhaps I will die, perhaps I will become that truth of religion, I don't very much care."

"Very well." Yolei said. "So maybe you're not the run-of-the-mill power hungry villian, but a villian you still are." She folded her arms over her chest. "You've destroyed the digital world, there doesn't exist a justification in the world for that."

"I disagree." Cory replied. "The digital world is a by-product of the real world. It exists because we, unknowingly, created it. Thus, it is our right to exploit it as we see fit for the benefit of the real world."

"Behind every villian is a grave misunderstanding." Kari said.

"But of course." He replied slowly. "You all seem to believe that the digital world has...taken on its own life. That it's another world that's grown apart from ours." He shook his head. "The digital world was spawned from the real world. This is further proven in the fact that I have completely destroyed the digital world without doing any...lasting harm to the real one. If I were to destroy the real world, the digital world would fall with it."

"You can't prove that!" TK retorted violently.

"Perhaps." Cory conceded. "In any case, the beings of the digital world may have grown three dimensional personalities, and have advanced to the point of being able to physically pass into the real world, but the point still stands that the digital world is nothing more than a sub-plane of the real one. So naturally, I had to make a decision." He cleared his throat again powerfully.

"As I said, I believed I could exploit the digital world to force the god of the real one out of hiding. I learned that, could I unlock it, I had the power to turn anything within the digital world into raw power, as a chosen child. Of course, to mount the power needed for such an undertaking, I would need to absorb quite a bit. There was no way to know exactly how much, so I would have to absorb everything." His eyes danced across the stone floor. "I could simply...take my place as a digidestined, fight evil as it came along, and allow mankind to continue to kill itself over such a petty thing, or, I could sacrifice the digital world to save the real world." He bit his lower lip. "It wasn't a hard choice to make."

"The human race has survived fighting over religion for thousands of years." Matt said. "We can survive it for thousands more if we must. It's not worth sacrificing an entire world!" 

"This world is...was...ours to sacrifice if we wanted. All I have done is discover the best use it could be put to for the benefit of us." He backed up against the back wall and leaned against it. "Now clearly, I won't change your mind, and you won't change mine. And I have no reason to care anymore. If you have nothing else to ask me about, we can-"

"How did you do it?" Izzy interrupted. "How were you always one step ahead of us? How did you know what to do?"

"Of course. The computer nerd wants to know." Cory chuckled. "Fine. We have plenty of time." He looked back over at the door. "I needed to find a way to unlock the secrets of the digital world, but I couldn't do it myself. I'm not sure how I got my digivice, but I'm sure it was a mistake. Or, at least, it had become a mistake. If I had entered the digital world myself, the greater powers would have certainly seen through me, and discover my ultimate goal. Should that have happened, it would have been game over. I could enter the digital world, but was forced to remain in hiding, which would not allow me to develop a plan." He allowed himself a small smile. "So, I sent another in for me."

"Adeel." Izzy said under his breath. 

"How long have you known?" Cory asked, tilting his head back against the stone.

"About four seconds." Izzy replied. "Is it?"

"Yes." Cory said majestically. "I ran an experiment. If it failed, I would be unable to even begin to piece together a plan, and it would prove to me that the digital world really is a...separate entity from the real one." He nodded slightly. "But it worked." 

"What?" Mimi asked, hanging onto his every word now.

"I duplicated my digivice."

A wave of silence crashed through the room like a tidal wave. Slowly, Cory held his digivice up. After a few seconds, he spoke. "There are few things as sacred as the digivice in this world. It's a symbol of the messiah and holds immense power." He licked his lips. "And yet, I was able to duplicate one from my computer, using the magic of ones and zeros. This proves, beyond all doubt, that the digital world is nothing more than a sub-plane of ours."

"That's impossible." Tai said in a hoarse whisper.

"Ken was right the first time." Cory continued, ignoring Tai. "This world is a game. A very complex, well-crafted game, but still a game. Anyway, I took the copied digivice and gave it to someone I knew very well." He threw a quick glance at the capsule before continuing. "Me."

"Adeel is you?" Davis asked incredulously.

"Adeel is my Doctor Jekyll." Cory corrected. "Using the...magic of the digital world, I was able to physically manifest my...more humane half, shall we call him." He brought the tip of his right index finger to his mouth and began to nibble on it. "He possessed my brilliance, and thought much in the way that I did, but found the prospect of destroying this entire world to be...inhumane. So, I gave him my duplicated digivice, and he became a chosen child as well. My code and his code read the same in the digital world, so nobody noticed."

"Brilliant." Izzy couldn't help but said softly.

"Thank you." Cory said lightly. "Adeel knew what I wanted to do, and that one day I would come. So, he ventured all across the digital world, discovering its secrets and attempting to secure them further. He wanted to try to discover exactly what I wanted to do so he would be ready. Unfortunately for the digital world, he reacted just as I thought he was going to react. After all, he is me."

"He showed you everything, didn't he?" Joe said, a petrified expression overtaking his face.

"I was always watching. Thanks to him trying to protect the digital world from me, I learned everything. How to unlock my powers, how to lure the gods out, the location of the revolver, the nature of the circuit...everything I needed to know to run this operation, he showed me. His intentions were pure, so he did not face the wrath of the gods. And he could not try to explain the nature of his existence, as the overlords of the digital world do not believe their world is nothing but zeroes and ones." Cory's eyes flashed. "Temet Nosce."

"I admit it, Cory." Izzy finally said after a moment of silence. "You're brilliant."

"After I had what I needed, I began to come to the digital world. But still in hiding. Over a long period of time, I absorbed enough digimon to blow up the western town. You know the story from there."

"Is Adeel dead?" Davis asked, rubbing his chin.

"That's what he'd like us to believe. That he sacrificed himself so I might fall at the hands of that frankenstein creation. But...him being who he is, I believe I would know beyond all doubt if he is truly gone. He's not here, in any case, so I believe he's back in the real world. I'll know soon enough."

"One last thing." Sora requested. "What's this?" She pointed at the capsule.

"Oh, yes." Cory pursed his lips and looked down at the glinting steel of the front of the large coffin-esque object. "Within this lies my partner."

"So you do have one." Tai deduced.

"I've been feeding him a steady diet of power crystals ever since I got this capsule from the black market. Soon, every drop of power the digital world has to offer will be flowing through his veins." He gave a tiny smile again. "He is how I kept tabs on Adeel. I was able to keep the wool over Adeel's eyes partially through my computer, and he believed the digimon was truly his partner. As such, he took him everywhere on his quest to safeguard the world, and he would report everything back to me. And now, I am granting him his dying wish."

"And that would be?" Matt asked, getting up and slowly crossing over to the capsule.

"He accepts that I need to absorb him in order to achieve my ultimate goal. But he requested that, before he is converted to raw data, I allow him to feel the sensation of limitless power. So, I have incubated him within this capsule, and have been supplying him with more and more power everyday. Once I am through with the digidestined, for one glorious minute, my partner will possess unlimited power." He gave a wan smile. "Then, I will absorb him, and all the power he holds."

The door slowly swung open, revealing Ken standing in the doorway. "Are we done?" He asked.

"I think so." Cory replied. "I'm rather impressed, I was almost able to carry civil conversation with them." He added. "Though I'm sure if you were present they would not have extended that courtesy."

"Indeed. Everyone hates a turncoat." Ken said, clapping his hands together and moving towards the assortment of digidestined. "Now, let's get started."

Tai glared harshly at Ken. "We had him, you know. If it wasn't for your cowardice, he'd be dead, and the digital world would still be intact."

"Perhaps so. But now is no time for hypotheticals." Ken responded. "Now, we have your digivices secured elsewhere. All we need is for each of you to tell us we may have the power residing within it."

"Ones and zeroes, huh?" Tai said, smirking at Cory himself.

"Touche." Cory conceded. "Don't kid yourself...give me some time with a computer, I could unlock the digivices without consent. This just happens to be faster."

"Prove it." Tai dared, eyes flashing.

"I have nothing left to prove to any of you." He began to move towards the door. "If any of you feel like delaying the inevitable, Ken's more than ready to deal with you." He stopped in the threshhold. "And Tai. Don't make excuses for your sister. All she had to do was call my bluff about being able to defeat the army, then you would have certainly won."

"You're such a little bastard, aren't you?" Kari responded.

"Bastard?" Cory said dreamily. "Perhaps. Little? I think not." He walked through the doorway and it slammed shut with a metallic thud behind him.

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Matt took several deep breaths of stale, acrid air as the unbearable pain left his body. His eyes opened slowly, to be greeted by Ken standing before him, against the back wall of the small stone room.

"Your addiction is being fed." He explained, indicating the green liquid flowing through an I.V. tube through a needle in Matt's arm vein. "But the flow will end in fifty seconds, giving you one full minute before the pain comes back, so if you have anything terribly interesting to say, make it quick."

Matt spat out a collection of saliva on the floor in front of him. He pulled his arms against the thick straps which kept him against the armrest, then his legs against the base of the chair, but it was as futile as it was before. "How many are left?"

"You're the last one." Ken said smoothly. "All the others already gave in. So, if there was some sort of...contest running amongst you digidestined to see who could go the longest, you won."

The corners of Matt's mouth went taut and twisted downwards. He breathed heavily as he recalled the immense pain of the Faustian cravings.

"Come now. You have forty-five seconds, after which I leave and don't return for a full three days. Do you really believe you'll still be holding strong by then?" Ken taunted. 

"Alright." Matt said through gritted teeth. "Go on. It's yours. Take it." He spat again. "Assholes."

"A tough guy to the last." Ken said. He walked over to the chair's back and moved his hand over the backrest. He pressed a small button near the bottom, sending a stream of purple liquid into Matt's vein. "The antidote to the addiction."

After a few more seconds, the stream of the antidote stopped, and Matt felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off his chest.

"See? All better." He slapped a button along the top of the chair's headrest, opening up all the straps. Matt keeled over and began to fall off the chair and onto the floor, but Ken grabbed his arm and dragged him across the room to the steel door.

He threw the door open roughly and pulled Matt into a larger room, every bit as boring and dull as the other rooms in the base. The rest of the digidestined and Cory were gathered here, the former gathered in the far corner, Cory in the corner adjacent, watching them carefully.

Ken cast Matt across the room with the others. Tai and TK grabbed him and began to attempt to comfort him. Tai held him upright, TK grabbed his hand.

"So I really did last the longest?" He asked, forcing a small smile. "I already feel better."

Cory held up an old-model digivice. "Thank you very much, Matt." He enclosed his hand into a fist around the digivice, which seemingly disappeared under his grip. When he opened his hand again, there was nothing there, like a simple magician trick. Only this wasn't nearly as innocent. "I now almost have everything I need."

"Almost?" Ken said, watching the digidestined with smug satisfaction, unaware Cory was moving behind him slowly.

"I said I would need the digidestined power of all the digidestined, Ken." Cory said. "_All_ of them."

Ken froze awkwardly, and slowly turned around to face Cory. "But you have my power." Ken said, his voice climbing slightly in octaves. "I serve you, what's mine is yours, my-"

"I wish that was good enough." Cory said, grabbing Ken's left arm. "Give me your digivice, Ken."

"But...you said you'd allow me to serve you as a god!" Ken shouted indignantly, starting to sweat. "You have my power as a digidestined! It's yours to use and call on as you see fit, for I serve-"

"As I said, not good enough." He began to squeeze Ken's arm. "What did Gandalf say to Saruman on the top of the _Orthanc_ before jumping?" He whispered into his ear.

Ken blinked, swallowing hard, before responding. "There is only one Lord of the Ring; only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power." He said throatily.

"Exactly." Cory said. "If you weren't so arrogant, you might have seen this coming, so I can't feel sorry for you. Now, there are two ways we can do this-"

Quickly, with his right hand, Ken reached into his pants' pocket for his digivice and threw it up in the air at Cory, who caught it neatly in both hands. Quickly, Ken began backing up towards the digidestined. "Fine! Take it, please!" He said, his face etched with fear and denial.

"You always were soft." Cory said coolly. "Yes, go join them." He instructed. Ken sat down in front of the rest of the digidestined, knees against his chin, watching Cory with wide-eyed fear as everyone looked down on him with great derision.

A glowing red portal opened up behind the digidestined, against the wall to their backs. They turned to look at it.

Cory cleared his throat. "This portal will take you all back to the real world. I'll be joining you in precisely one hour."

"Why?" TK asked sardonically. "Need to clean out the pipes?" 

"Just fulfilling a promise to my loyal partner." Cory responded neatly. "I see no good reason, as of now, to kill any of you. But if living in a world of which I am god of doesn't sound appealing to any of you, you can feel free to take this hour to do what you must. Of course, it wouldn't take much to give me a good reason to kill any of you, so keep that in mind." He raised his right hand, palm outwards. "See you very soon."

And then, the digidestined were pushed back into the glowing circle.

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And then, they were back. Materializing out of the computer screen in Ken's bedroom, at practically the same time, in a most uncerimonious fashion. They landed in a heap on Ken's wood floor.

Almost as soon as TK hit ground, he rolled over and jumped up, inspite of the bumps and bruises sustained in the short fall. TK clapped his hands together, almost optimistically, and glanced around at everyone, who remained laying on the floor.

"Alright guys, what's the plan?" He said, sounding almost cheerful.

Everyone else dejectedly found a segment of a wall or the floor to stare at, even as TK started pacing around. "C'mon! We've got an hour, let's-"

"TK." Matt said quietly. "It's over."

"What are you talking about?" TK said, his voice high and speech rapid. "It's not over! It's never over! Let's go! We can...contact the army and see if we can't get through to the world leaders-"

"TK, please." Kari said, head hanging over. "It's...it's done."

TK stared at Kari unbelievingly for a few seconds. Slowly, almost robotically, he turned to Ken, who was attempting to quietly remove himself from the rest of the group by crawling into the corner. TK's mouth twitched, and he briskly stepped forward and grabbed the back of Ken's shirt, lifting him up and spinning him around.

"You son of a bitch!" He roared, hitting him full across the cheek with his fist, sending him into the closest wall. Strangely, Ken put up no resistance, even when TK went back up to him and grabbed his collar. "We had him! We had him!"

Ken didn't acknowledge TK's tirade, only holding the same look of sorrow and despair on his face, staring off at nothing in particular.

"If you weren't such a little coward, he'd be dead, and the digital world would still be standing!" TK continued, throwing Ken into the corner of the bedroom at a lamp on a small end table. Ken appeared to consent to the violence, willingly falling back against the lamp, sending it crashing against the back wall and to the floor with a violent clank, and slumping against said wall in apperant depression.

TK didn't notice the irregularity of his reaction and stormed back up to him, unleashing a cross on his right cheek. The force knocked him back hard against the wall, punishing his skull in both the front and back. "All you had to do was maintain hope for a little longer!" TK spat. He picked him up by the collar again and threw him to the floor.

The rest of the group, though their minds and bodies had been drained by the struggle with the Emperor, couldn't help but watch this emotional and meaningful scene with interest.

Ken sat up slightly, looking up at TK, who was still glaring down at him, hate and rage coursing through his every muscle. Ken spat a few trickles of blood from his mouth and shook his head vigorously.

"I guess...we're all just not as hopeful as you." Ken said tonelessly and quietly. He gave a weak, forced smile before falling back down onto the ground.

TK wasn't done. He again grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up, so they were almost face to face. "Have you learned nothing? Haven't you been a digidestined long enough to know we can do anything so long as we stand together?" He shook Ken violently.

"I suppose not." Ken said, almost dreamily, looking off with unfocused eyes at the ceiling.

TK threw him back down to the ground powerfully, causing Ken to crash against the wooden floor with immense sound effects. "You think this is funny?" He asked rhetorically. "You think it's just a game? A dream, perhaps?" TK smirked slightly, almost insanely. "No. This is reality. You've doomed us all, Ken. Can you live with that?"

"I guess I'll just...have to." Ken said, still sounding somehow unfocused.

"Well, I hope you can live in a world where Cory is god. I hope you live to be a a hundred and twenty goddamn years old. And I hope Cory uses you as a goddamn footstool until your bones crumble to dust." TK continued, his voice rising in volume constantly.

The doorknob to the bedroom began to turn, centimeter by centimeter. TK glanced up at it, then back down at Ken. "I'd kill you with my bare hands if I didn't think that would be a much worse fate."

Ken's mother peered her head through the door after opening it a few inches. "What's going on?" She asked meekly. "Where have you all been? I was-"

TK suddenly crossed the room in a few fluid steps, almost seemingly carried by momentum, and socked the unsuspecting woman across the face. She flew back into the hallway, landing hard on her back with a thump, clutching the developing red spot on her face.

Still using the momentum from the punch, TK stepped into the hallway, walked right over Ken's mother, and briskly crossed into the living room.

"Hey!" Ken's father interjected from the living room, jumping to his feet at the sound of someone hitting the floor at the sight of TK. "What the hell's going on?"

A few steps later, was looking down the hallway at his spouse on the ground, in obvious pain. He turned a nasty look to TK, who simply stared back with defiance.

"Curse the day you forgot to use a goddamn condom." TK said derisively at Ken's dad before turning towards the front door of the apartment. Speechless and stunned, Ken's dad just watched TK's back as he vaulted the kitchen counter, crossed to the door, threw it open, and stepped out.

He spun his head around to look back down the hall. Tai and Matt, both very red in the face, were standing in the doorway, looking down on Ken's mother, slowly pushing herself back up. The pair approached her, sticking their hands out to help her up.

She accepted the offering, allowing the two boys to pull her upright as they frantically tried to apologize.

"I'm...very sorry about my brother." Matt said.

"What's been going on here?" She asked, tears beginning to shine in her eyes. "Where have you been? Why-"

"Miss Ichijouji, it's really not our place." Tai said weakly. "When...your son is ready, he'll tell you everything."

"Ken? What's wrong with Ken?" She asked quickly, peeking around them into the room, seeing Ken sitting on the floor with blood trickling down his chin. He had a vague smile on his face, his eyes glazed over as he appeared to be glaring at the floor. "Ken!" 

"We should go." Kari said quickly, looking around at everyone, trying to keep herself composed. "Come on." She began to shuffle out of the room.

Slowly, Yolei and Davis followed, slouched over in defeat. Joe, Cody and Sora followed in similar fashion, each one resisting the urge to kick Ken in the head as they passed. In great confusion, Ken's parents watched the procession of children out of Ken's room, into the hall, down the living room, and out of the apartment entirely, looking as if marching towards the funeral of their loved ones.

Slowly, they turned back to Ken, who was just now opening his mouth, allowing a new collection of blood to seep onto his front.

"Condom." He said, smirking. "That's a good one." He started to laugh quietly. "Forgot to use a condom."

His parents stormed into the room and bent over him. His mom grabbed his hands and held them in hers. His dad rubbed the back of his head.

"Ken...what's going on?" His mother asked, trying to fight back tears.

"Forgot to use a condom." Ken repeated, chuckling. "That _is_ a good one." He kept laughing lightly, ignoring the flood of blood now gushing onto the front of his shirt. His parents could only look at each other in fear and confusion.

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Slouched over on a park bench overlooking a field of grass and trees, in which dozens of young children and a handful of adults played simple games, TK was slowly looking over everything with vein-bearing eyes. His face was seemingly forever etched in one of anger and pain, contorted like the face of one suffering of great constipation.

He saw the jump-roping little girls, three grass fields away, having the time of their life seemingly. The co-ed hopscotch game on the path several meters straight away from him. The golden retriever madly chasing a frisbee as if it was made of diamond.

"TK!" Someone cried. As if a bad piece of machinery, TK slowly turned his head to his left to spy Kari running towards him. Wholly uninterested, he watched the dog snatch the frisbee out of the air.

"TK, you shouldn't just run off like that!" She said after getting within conversational distance of him. Breathing hard, she fell back on the other end of the bench.

"Why not?" He asked darkly. "In about two minutes, it's not gonna matter. I'll run wherever I want, I might not be able to run anywhere soon."

"Don't...don't say that!" She insisted, looking desparately at him. "Who says Cory has to be a bad god anyway?"

"Oh." TK leaned back against the wooden backrest of the bench, eyes shut tight. "Don't tell me you're trying to play _this_ off!"

"Well...he's not completely evil!" Kari reasoned. "He just wants to give the world a single religion to follow! Who says he has to be an oppressive god! He might just make himself...visible and known to exist, but maybe he's not into the whole...casting rivers of lava into the streets...and causing thunderstorms...and flooding entire countries...y'know?" She swallowed hard. "Besides, who says he'll win?" 

"Who says he won't?!" TK said, throwing his arms to the side exasperatedly. "Everything else has fallen into order for him! Why not this?!" He took in a deep breath and let it out, slowly. "Look. I'm just trying to enjoy what's likely to be the last few sane moments of existence."

"You won't with that attitude." Kari said.

TK looked over at her again, then resumed watching a riveting game of HORSE on a basketball court across the park. "We've let them all down, Kari. All these people. They're about to be subjected to the forced worship of a god who thought nothing of destroying an entire world." His eyes glazed over. "All we had to do was stop him." His head hung down onto his chest. "I...I can't believe it. We had him, at the end. If only-"

"TK." Kari said softly. "Don't kill yourself over the ifs."

"It's all I have left." TK said mysteriously, looking up into the sky.

"I don't know what to do either." Kari said. "I'm just trying to...hold myself together, I suppose. Do I want to watch the inevitable epic showdown between Cory and god? Do I want to live? In what capacity?"

"I just...have no idea." TK said helplessly. "There has to be...something left that we can call on. There must be-"

"C'mon TK." Kari insisted. "Let it go."

And then, an explosion caused a minor quake. TK and Kari threw their heads around in time to see an apartment complex three blocks away go up in a plume of raging fire. Slowly, almost casually, as everyone else in the general vicinity began to panic, scream, and run around stupidly, TK and Kari stood up and began walking towards the scene.

"And so it begins." TK said dully, watching the concrete, steel, glass, and plastic collapse in a fiery heap amidst the inferno.

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Satisfied that there would be nothing left of the building when the fire was done, Cory slowly turned his eyes up to the sky. "That was easy!" He yelled. "A thousand humans and a very expensive structure destroyed, and I haven't even begun to try!" He looked down the main street he was standing on at people running away like mad and cars careening away from the explosion.

He bent down onto one knee and touched the asphalt of the street. A fissure began to pull open along the ground, continuing to develop and split as it went down the road, increasing levels of panic among the citizens.

Eventually, the crack caught up to the fleeing people, and several were unable to avoid slipping down into the earth. Cory watched them scream helplessly as they plunged down into the dark depths below.

"Come on!" He yelled. "I know you're afraid! I know you can see it!"

"Killing innocents, are we?"

Cory spun around to spot Tai, standing on the sidewalk corner, eyes on what was once a strong, tall, proud building.

"Glad you could make it!" Cory said loudly.

"Some god you're gonna make." Tai said sarcastically. "Already you show some very...cruel tendencies towards those who have done nothing to you."

"Am I really killing them?" Cory asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "All god must do to stop me is show himself. By remaining in hiding, he condemns all these people to death."

"Poor excuse." Tai replied dryly.

Joe, Cody, Mimi, and Matt appeared across the street from Tai, looking down the road at the constantly opening fissure.

"I don't have to justify myself to anyone anymore." Cory said simply. "If a few must be sacrificed so the human race can be allowed to survive in the long run, so be it." He looked back up at the skies. "And it seems god agrees with me. Or he simply doesn't care what happens to mankind."

He turned around dramatically in time to see TK, Kari, and Sora dashing down the street, screeching to a halt as he saw them.

"Well, with any luck, you'll all be here to bear witness." Cory said mystically. "Providing he actually shows up."

He raised his right arm up straight into the air and swung it down quickly, until it had rotated around a hundred and eighty degrees. The action was strangely anticlimatic, as it appeared that nothing had happened.

"What, are you drunk now?" Cody asked sardonically.

"Oh. You may not be able to see it, but I assure you the unfortunate civilians of New York state did." He blew some saliva down at the pavement before continuing. "At least, I'm assuming they'd notice that the entire state just plunged several thousand feet underwater."

A collective gasp left everyone's mouths. Mimi went pale white before stepping forward powerfully. "You're bluffing!" She insisted.

"I don't care if you believe me or not." Cory replied dismissively, turning his neck so it was parallel to his left shoulder, spying Mimi out of the corner of his left eye. "All the belief or disbelief in the world can't stop your mother's and father's ribcages from crushing in on their own vital organs."

Mimi put her hands over her mouth and gave a strangled squeal as she fell to her knees, Matt reaching over to try to support her from falling further by grabbing her right arm.

Cory's eyes flew back to the sky. Inspite of all the happenings on the ground level, the sky was unusually peaceful. Blue, with the occasional white cloud, no signs of rain coming in anytime soon...it would have been beautiful at any other time.

"Looks like admission is more then I anticipated." He growled. "Very well." He gave a small smile as he raised his right arm again. "Why do you suppose they call Austrailia 'The Land Down Under' when it's not under anything?"

"No!" Kari screamed, reading between the lines of his mediocre joke. Her fist went up to her mouth, her teeth beginning to nibble at her knuckle, feeling completely helpless.

"I suppose, as god of this world, I'll make correcting that obvious error first on my list!" He threw his arm down hard again. Again, they felt nothing, even as a small continent was plunged into the cold watery depths of the Pacific Ocean miles away. "Oh, what a kick!" Cory finished, raising his arm back to his side.

"Oh my god." Matt uttered, his voice scratchy and throaty. "Did you just-"

"Yes, Matt. I did. I've sent every single inhabitant of Austrailia down to a watery grave. If this doesn't lure him out, I don't know what will." Again, he leaned back to look at the clouds. "Not only are you a hidden god, you are a cruel god. You're letting people die when they don't need to!" He said at the top of his voice.

"Maybe he's not coming." TK said darkly. "Maybe a little insect like yourself isn't worth his time."

"Insect?" Cory repeated, turning to face TK again. "If the capability and drive to destroy the entire human race, plus no doubt several dozen others planets, isn't worth his time, he thinks far too much of his time."

"God can make his presence felt in more ways than one." Sora said flatly.

"Pathetic lies, Sora." Cory said, now turning to her. "One told a million times over by religious nuts such as yourself."

"I'm no religious nut." Sora said calmly. "But who says god has to come down from the skies, in the form of an old bearded man?"

"I don't care what human shell he takes!" Cory growled, looking back up into the skies. Finally, Izzy, Davis, and Yolei appeared from down the street adjacent to the one ruined by the fissure and across from the one that TK, Kari and Sora stood in. Cory's expression lightened. "Oh look. It's the entire group." He spun around in a slow three-sixty, looking at everyone. "Funny that a group of...completely _normal_ children dare approach me, whereas the vast armies of the world powers flee like mice from a cat." He held his arms out to his sides. "You're not the digidestined, why are you here? You wish to watch? Perhaps you're holding some...final weapon to use against me? What is it?"

He looked around again as he was met with dead silence. Slowly, he gave a small grin. "You really don't know, do you?" He raised his hand up towards the sky. "Very well. Perhaps using the moon as a makeshift asteroid on collision course with China will draw his attention."

"You seem so...dismissive of the possibility that there is no god."

Everyone spun their heads around to a building on the corner of the street that had been cracked wide open, where the voice had come from. Slowly, Ken came into view from inside the small alcove that contained the entrance to the facility. His hand ran along the golden plate that made up the segment of wall at that point as he stepped slowly out into the sidewalk. He was wearing a bold leather jacket with a black v-neck underneath and thin black pants.

"Ah." Cory said, turning to square himself up to Ken. "The digiteam complete. Well, except for Adeel, but I suppose he might be dead after all. Or he's too cowardly...or should I say, sensible, to show up around here."

"You really want there to be a god, don't you?" Ken asked, taking another stride towards him. "Why?"

A flash of discomfort flashed over Cory's features, but it was gone as soon as it came, and he stared at Ken, confidence back. "Because I'd hate to think we'd been fighting all these years for nothing."

"And yet, if there is truly no god, your job is that much easier." He took another step. "Interesting paradox."

"No paradox." Cory corrected, dismissing the notion with a wave of his hand at Ken. "I am supremely confident in my ability to strike this...god down. And if I can't, well, I've still achieved my ultimate goal." He cleared his throat. "Now, if you're here hoping for some sort of compensation for helping me...you should turn around and walk away. I don't reward softies."

"I'm hurt." Ken said childishly. Slowly, he reached his hands up into his jacket and removed a simple, elongated, silver revolver.

"I've seen that model before." Cory said, looking at it's gleaming metal finish. "A family I was with used it to end the misery of sick animals."

"They don't sell the good stuff to minors." Ken joked dryly. "It's my dads."

Cory chuckled. "So this is the true final stand of the digidestined." He scoffed. "A cheap suburbia revolver." His right eyebrow went up about an inch as he looked at it. "Or...perhaps you wanted to commit suicide in the streets, in front of me, for some sick, twisted reason?" His lips pursed. "Perhaps a mad killing spree of your once-allies before I become god? What's it gonna be, Ken?"

Slowly, Ken looked around, almost bashfully, at the rest of the digidestined, who watched him with intense fascination. And then, in a quick sweeping motion, he flung his right arm out so the gun was pointed at Cory's chest and fired. The gun swung up in recoil as a puff of smoke blew from the barrel and a crack singed the air.

Cory didn't even flinch as the bullet barreled into his stomach, smiling all the while.

And then, slowly, his smile disappeared as he looked down at his stomach.

Embedded in his right abdomen was a small, golden, pointed piece of led. From the tip, which had just managed to poke far enough into his skin to stick, a smooth, glowing, silver substance was growing outwards in all directions. Quickly, his right hand darted down and plucked the offending object out, casting it down to the street, but the silvery-liquid remained, and continued to grow outwards.

Panicked, he tried to brush it off, but it only spread to the tips of the fingers that touched it. His pupils dilating, he brought his hands up in front of his face, watching the substance continue to spread.

He looked back down at the golden bullet, then at Ken. "How...there was no seventh bullet!" He insisted, even as he tried to shake his hands violently to rid himself of the substance.

"Indeed. There were only six." Ken said calmly, slowly approaching Cory as a smile grew on his face. "I only ever fired five."

"But-"

Ken raised his left index finger, silencing him, as he continued to walk towards him. "The round I fired at the DNA digivolution creature was a regular round, nothing more and nothing less. Wormmon sabatoged the beast from the inside to make the deception look convincing." He put his finger on his chin. "And yet, it seems to me that if you were paying closer attention, you might have noticed...just like how you might have noticed I was never on your side."

Cory's entire stomach and both his hands were now consumed by the silver. He was madly scraping at it, but this accomplished nothing. So he looked back up at Ken, hatred flowing through his eyes as he glared daggers at Ken. "Triple-Crossing bastard."

"Revolver Ocelot was always my idol." Ken taunted, now just a few feet away from him. "All I had to do was program the sixth bullet with a...self-replicating virus of sorts, in all your brilliance I'm amazed you didn't think of such a possibility long ago."

"No...no!" Cory insisted, watching the silver climb up his arms helplessly. "I'm above this now! How?" He looked at Ken with that deer in the headlights glare. "How?!"

"For all your inherent wisdom, you can't even grasp your own philosphy." Ken said, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "Cory, you were right." Ken nodded slowly. "You were always right. Ones and zeroes."

"But-"

"But nothing!" Ken roared, throwing the revolver at Cory as hard as he could. It clanked off his chest coldly, then fell to the ground in front of them. "You're no god! You're nothing more then an advanced...virus! You should know this better than anyone! And now, you're being deleted by an anti-virus virus." He gave a cocky smirk as the silver hit his shoulders and consumed his entire torso, starting now on his head and legs. "Ones and zeroes, Cory. Ones and zeroes."

Cory continued to deny the hard truth spreading across his entire body. "No...no, I am a god! I absorbed the entire digital world, how could I be anything less?!"

"Cory." Ken continued, watching as his face and feet were consumed in the silvery glaze. "It's like I always say." Quickly, starting at his feet, the silver substance began to eat away at his very body, leaving nothing behind. "All in all is all we are."

And then, there was nothing left of him. As if a cloak of invisibility, the substance had eaten up his entire body and vanished along with him, leaving Ken to stand there, alone, breathing heavily at what had been Cory just a moment before.

Slowly, in awe and shock, the rest of the digidestined moved towards him, gathering around him in a rough circle of people.

After what felt like several minutes, Davis stepped forward towards Ken, mouth agape.

"Ken...I..." He started, staring wided-eyed at him, then the revolver.

"I want an oscar." Ken said emotionlessly, still looking at the asphalt where Cory had been.

"You magnificent bastard!" TK roared, jumping from the ring of people and latching onto Ken's back in a most questionable fashion, picking him up. "You got him! You got him!"

"Yes...I suppose I did..." Ken said listlessly, still seemingly unmoved.

"You suppose?" Tai objected, raising his right index finger, then pointing it down at where Cory had been. "You suppose?! Look right there, Ken! A minute ago, Cory was ready to ascend to the level of a god, and now he's below the existence of even an earthworm!"

"Bittersweet." Ken said, blinking hard. "He was right."

"Oh...Ken, that was just...something you say...an ironic farewell speech...right?" Yolei said hopefully.

"It was the _truth!_" Ken spat, storming through a gap in the circle between Kari and Joe. "Zeroes and ones! That's all it ever was!" He turned back towards the group, eyes glaring bitterness. "I didn't want to believe it...believe me, I tried to think of another way, just so I wouldn't have to exploit it, but..." he turned away, mouth curving down nastily in a grimace. "...that's all it ever was. Zeroes and ones."

"Ken, you don't really believe that, do you?"

From around the corner of the bank at the corner of the street, Adeel appeared, looking odd in his civilian clothing of a white shirt and blue jeans.

Ken didn't miss a beat, turning to face him. "Of course I believe it, it's the truth! The fact that I was able to defeat him is testament to this!"

"Ken." Adeel said simply, spreading his arms to either side of his body. "Look at me. The fact that I can exist within the real world is testament to you being wrong."

Ken froze, looking Adeel over. "Of course." He said under his breath. "But how-"

"Ken, I can't explain it." Adeel shrugged. "And nobody I know, and I seriously doubt anybody, can explain it. The point is...it's not as simple as zeroes and ones."

Ken looked down at the concrete ground, eyes dilating in and out as he thought. "My god..."

"For someone who claims to be so smart, you seem to need to be taught the same lesson multiple times." Adeel joked.

"Then...the digital world is lost forever." Ken said, swallowing hard as he thought. "It can't be brought back if what you say is true. Honestly, I would rather have it the other way."

"Don't be so sure." Adeel said, walking over to where Cory had been before fading and bending over, picking up the golden bullet. "I am Cory, remember?"

Ken looked back over at him, his hair swinging over his face as he twirled around. "What do you mean?"

"I am Cory...and yet I am his opposite...I think it's fitting that I undo what he did." He said smoothly, holding the bullet up close to his eye. "I'm not going to pretend I know much about the intricate details of the digital world, but logic dicates all you need is a seed to sprout."

"Can it be done?" Ken asked hopefully, approaching Adeel slowly.

"No idea." Adeel responded, giving a small smile. "But all we can do is try."

Ken's eyes lit up as Adeel started to walk away with the small bullet. Then, someone popped a fuse. "Wait...what about New York and Austrailia?" He called out to Adeel.

"I don't have _all_ the answers, Ken." Adeel said, not turning around to face him. "Who do you think I am, Deus Ex Machina?"

Ken's eyes drooped back to the ground. "Great." He moaned, turning around and slumping away.

"Ken...it's okay, you did the best you could." Kari said. "You did more then anyone could have expected in all fairness."

"It's not okay!" Ken spat. "I could have been faster! Millions are dead because of me!"

"Ken." Matt said calmly. "We just fought a war. In war, there are inevitably going to be casualities. All things considered, you did a hell of a job as a general."

Ken went slightly red as he glanced around at the abandoned streets. "You think so?"

"Absolutely." Izzy reinterated, approaching Ken. "You did the best you could, and we ended up winning. We can't rightfully ask for anything more."

Ken allowed a tiny smile to cross his mouth as he nodded. It died as he turned to Mimi, who looked mortifed as reality set in. "I'm sorry." He said professionally, almost coldly and robotically. "I'm really, very sorry."

Mimi put her right hand over her mouth, sniffling slightly. "Oh...it's not your fault." She whimpered.

"Ken, you did great. Better than any of us could have." TK insisted, walking up behind him and putting his hand on his shoulder. "But I wonder...you claim to have never truly been on his side." He grinned playfully. "Is that the truth?"

Ken turned around slowly, returned the smily lukewarmly, and gave a small wink.

"Something tells me if the opportunity with the bullet didn't come up, you would have followed him to the ends of the earth." TK said, crossing his arms over his chest in mock anger.

"Well, TK." Ken said, pursing his lips. "You know my saying." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "All in all...is all...we are."

"Of course." TK replied. "Now, where do we go from here? I suppose it's our responsibility to try and help clean up the mess we let spread to the real world..."

"Uh-huh, yeah." Ken replied. "You handle getting a submarine that can go down to the ocean floor level to try and pull Austrailia and New York back up, I'll try and find Superman and see if he can't just go backwards around the earth really fast."

In perhaps an encouraging sign for the future, inspite of this great weight placed on them, the digidestined all got together and shared a laugh.

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Well, that's about it...I probably could have broken it up into multiple chapters but didn't feel like it.

I think I ended it alright...a bit more of a story left to tell, but nothing I care enough about to actually make a sequel (so don't hold your breath)...not a completely happy ending, but the good guys win...plot actually came together better than I expected, though I'm not sure how well it's structured to begin with. I just wanted to include religion, but add a bit of an original twist, so we'll see.

I think I covered any possible plotholes and wound up ending things reasonably well. But who am I to say? Thanks for reading this, anyone who made it this far!

Next up...I'm gonna finish The Wall and really get into A Fic About Nothing. So check those out if you want to...especially a fic about nothing, the comedy genre really caters to my writing style.


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